Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: A New Light
by Anazuma
Summary: The days of heroes of the past are long gone, and though true peace is impossible to find, chaos has reliquished it's hold. However, beneath this calm lurks a secret that causes even legendaries pause. Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
1. Chapter 1

I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON! They belong to their respective owners (i.e. Nintendo)

So, this just so happens to be the second story I am writing and putting on Fan Fiction. And, for those people who have read my FFCC story, or at least the few chapters I have put up so far, yes, I do tend to start my stories with a chapter which does not show the actual protagonists. Go figure.

WARNING: If you think there isn't going to be people who die in this, you are mistaken. And it won't be the kiddy death either. As in, off screen. It will be described. So if you have a really weak stomach, don't read this first chapter and just read the second when I put it out. This is probably one of the bloodiest chapters I'm going to write for the whole story though. Mainly because of the main antagonist's cruelty.

And for this story, I am more than willing to accept characters from those who read this, if you want one of your characters in it. (I have found in writing some stories that having another person create a character can make the story a LOT more interesting.)

Also, this is going to be 1st person point of view. I'll have the name of the person who is 'speaking' in bold or something like that. I have yet to decide on a style which is best.

* * *

**?**

Idiots. That's what the four were. Although I couldn't see three of them, as they were deeper in the dungeon. The one I could see was groaning with pain, waking up to a nightmare. It was about fifty feet bellow me, laying on the rocky ground, a sheer cliff the only way up to me. Or flying. But it couldn't. The Swellow looked up at me, eyes filled with hatred. "You traitorous bastard! Why did you do this! For some trinket!"

I laughed at that. Some trinket. Ha. Like that was even close to explaining the golden necklace I had slipped around my neck. "How long have you been like you are now? How long?"

"Been the way I am now? Evil? Since your stupid team leader accepted me into your little hardworking group. All he saw was a nervous, lonely Pokémon, looking to better himself and succeeding. He saw what he wanted to see, not the truth. And then, when I suggested this mission you were all glad that I was taking on greater challenges, challenges worthy of your team."

The Swellow tried to rise up, but fell back, both legs and wings broken. A few nasty cuts were dyeing its plumage red. "You used us!"

"Well of course I did. You were so easy to use it wasn't even a challenge. Uh-oh. Looks like the tide is rising. I give you five minutes until you're under water. Seeing as you have a lead weight tied around your neck."

"Is whatever you wanted really worth it? Is it? Please, think about what you're doing!"

I hesitated. Then dropped to my knees. "No. It is. It is. Oh, I can't delude myself. You're right, it's not worth it. I... Just for this thing, killing everyone isn't worth it." Hope appeared in the fool's eyes. I made as if to scale down and help him, then laughed and stood up. "But this _and_ entertaining me are worth killing you all for. Have fun learning to swim!"

It only took me a few minutes to get outside. From there I began walking away, humming. After all, what wasn't to be happy about? Another hour and a half of travelling and I stooped down and buried the necklace as deeply as I could. Then I ate a blast seed, breathed on my leg, burning it, and gave myself a long shallow cut with the sharpened tip of a metal spike. Then all that remained was to stagger towards the town. Ten minutes of pain were all I had to endure before someone found me. I allowed myself to collapse, hearing the rush of voices and feet as I was carried towards the exploration team base, where I could be healed. I allowed myself to slip into slumber, gladdened by the perfect scheme having gone perfectly to plan. No one would suspect anything. No, someone would, but they would never suspect enough to actually investigate. Everyone was always so trusting. Idiots.

* * *

Like I said, this was a rather dark and violent opener. Some of you are likely now going "0.o Isn't this supposed to be a kids game?" There's a reason I rated it teen. And, no, none of the other chapters are going to be this dark. Well, maybe later on, but no one will be murdered for a while yet. And... Willing to accept characters you create into the story. I'll put up a little section or something on what info I need when I begin writing this (by that I mean actually writing so that it'll be faster than a month to update it) on my profile. Though that may not be for a while, as I am kind of more focused on the FFCC story which I am currently writing.

AND ALSO: PLEASE REVIEW! Well, I haven't really given anyoen anything to review about yet, have I? Hm, I need to finish the next chapter, that way I can get some OC's (teas or just single characters work) for this story.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, I wish I owned Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, but I do not. *sigh* On the brighter side, I do have one of the games, so... WHOOPEE! Hehe, little outburst there. Anyhoo, this second chapter took forever because a certain company released two certain games meaning a certain writer had to edit most of the teams that were well and set to include Pokémon from the said games. BLACK AND WHITE ARE OUT! YES! And I don't have one yet... Meh, maybe later. Right now I'm fine with looking stuff up. And, yeah redoing the teams was annoying because it took me hours to figure out what to call members and stuff... Which is why I want YOU to review and if you want a character in this story, then tell me stuff about them (note: the info I need will be at the end). And now I am finished this annoyingly long author's note. Oh, not quite. The first two paragraphs are just about as dark as the first chapter. So, if you don't like stuff like that, skip the first two paragraphs.

* * *

Dark claws slashed through the darkness, striking against my side, imprinting it with cuts which felt like fire. Odd rock like structures gleamed in the darkness. It was too dark to see properly... Then another feeling of being cut, across my back this time. It hurt, but what hurt more was the fact that I couldn't see well enough to defend myself.

The nightmare of dark chuckles, cackling, and slashing claws continued for some time, one almost taking my eye out. More voices could be heard shouting, and a name was being repeated over and over again... I managed to strike out again, hitting one of the attackers in the chest. And then a shrieking voice, a sudden pain which lanced through my body, and then...

I sat up, feeling the soft ground beneath me. I sat up, touching every place where I had been injured. Nothing. Nothing at all. I'll admit, a sigh of relief dropped from my mouth. _A nightmare. That's all it was, a nightmare. At least, I think. Or was it a memory? But when did it happen? And..._ I felt my eyes widen with shock. _Why the hell can't I remember anything before that... Nightmare? Memory of a fight? Whatever it was. Why can't I remember? Amnesia. Obviously. But what caused it?_

After about three minutes of repeatedly questioning myself and coming up with absolutely no answers, I took a look around. Fairly soft dirt, grass blowing gently in the night breezes. A sudden drop of the land to my left. Beyond that the ocean. _Well, at least I can still remember what things are called, how to walk, and so on. Well, I think I know how to walk._ I stood up and paced in a circle several times. I considered sitting back down, but the pacing seemed to be helping me calm down slightly.

_Alright. I need to think. I don't know where I am, and more importantly who I am. I don't know if anyone lives nearby, and I don't know what that thing I woke up from was. Wait, if I woke up from it, it stands to reason that it was a nightmare. Nice to know that whatever that was wasn't real. Or was it? I mean... After all, it _was_ very vivid. But perhaps there's some sort of explanation for it? Well, whatever the answer is, it isn't here._

So I reached down, grabbed the bone on the ground beside me, and set off along the cliff. Then, after ten seconds of walking, I realised what I had done. I turned the bone around, examining it. Then I touched the skull that covered my head. _Alright, so I even forgot what kind of Pokémon I was. Or was it more I just knew, and didn't have to think about it. So, now I know that I have amnesia, don't remember my name, am a Cubone, and am walking towards... Well, there seems to be some sort of building up ahead. I think. But seeing as I've lost my memory, my judgement may not be the best. _Well, going the way I was seemed to have no downsides, so it was good enough for me. And if there was nothing up ahead I could always turn back and go the other way.

The sound of several voices up ahead caused me to pause. They weren't angry, and instead rather jovial. _Well, there's someone living here. Maybe I can go and talk to them._

As I got closer I could hear the voices more clearly. "I still fail to believe you thought that mission would be easy." The voice was very calm, and also slightly reprimanding.

"Hey, it didn't look hard, okay? A simple, easy, come and get me out of here style mission. You can stop going on to me about it." The second sounded slightly disheartened, and annoyed at the first's criticism.

"Simple and easy, hm? I seem to recall something about a very powerful Glailie lurking around. Not to mention a few dozen other ice types. I must admit, they were _so_ much fun to deal with. Thank goodness it was twenty or so floors."

"Oh, come now, Eye. It wasn't that bad. Everyone but Clover has an equal right to complain." The third voice was, like the second, female, except much more controlled.

I noticed a sign post nearby. But I also noticed a group of four Pokémon walking forwards, the ones who had obviously been talking before. They nodded and smiled amiably. I recognised the Xatu's voice as the first one I had heard. "Greetings. May I ask where you are planning on going so late at night?"

Well, he was nice enough. A bit regal in disposition, but not too bad. "I really don't know."

The third speaker had been a dragonair. "Don't know? Hey, Eye, why do you care so much?"

"I am psychic. Remember? Which means that I am able to sense emotions and such from others, to a rather limited degree sadly. And this Cubone seems very lost."

I looked at the other two member of the group. A Pikachu and a Grovyle. "Well, I am completely lost."

Eye looked a little surprised. "Did you just come from one of the dungeons? Or are you new to this place, a traveller?"

"I... I really don't know."

The Grovyle smiled slightly mockingly. "Is that all you can say?"

"No. I can tell a lizard it's being an idiot." Alright, so my temper was a bit frayed. I had just woken up from a hellish nightmare, with no memory, met some Pokémon I had no clue who they were (go figure), and now I was being insulted by one of them. Not a good day. Or night, I suppose.

The Grovyle made as if to step forward slightly, but the Dragonair blocked his path. "I know you're grumpy when you get tired, but try and control your temper, okay?" He nodded, looking a little annoyed at himself. Eye stepped forward another pace.

"But how can you not know?"

"Well, if someone doesn't have any memories to draw on, they tend not to know things, now do they?" Okay, yes I was being rather sarcastic and insulting to someone who had done nothing to offend me. I promised myself I would apologise later.

The Xatu turned to his companions. "Well, this is an interesting problem. I say we show him to the guild. He will have a place to rest, and Kanamar may be able to find something for his memory."

"Alright, fine, let's go. I wanna get to sleep already. And next time, we choose a dungeon without any ice in it."

"I said I'm sorry, okay?" The Pikachu seemed annoyed that two of the members seemed to be going after her about some decision she had made.

They turned and continued to head up the path I had been walking along before. The Xatu chose to walk beside me. He folded his wings and looked down at me. "I am sorry that I have not introduced myself. My name, as you may have gathered, is Eye. I am the leader of our exploration team. Oh, but you wouldn't know what those are..."

I shook my head and Eye continued. "We are exactly what we sound. Teams of Pokémon which explore places known as mystery dungeons. These dungeons are odd, as time and space are warped. In them Pokémon heal from injuries much more quickly. But we also become hungry more quickly. Also, they are constantly shifting, thus impossible to map. The Dragonair is Gem, and the Grovyle goes by his species name. They, along with me, are some of the senior members of our exploration team. Clover is our newest member right now, and still in training. Though she learns very fast, she does still make a few mistakes, though they are not irreparable."

I hesitated. "So... How many more members are on the team?"

"Intuitive. Yes, we are not the sole members of our team. Instead, we are part of a team which has three separate divisions, each with a leader. I work in Snorlax's guild. The actual leader of our team is Salamence, and he works at another of the three guilds. There are a total of three large guilds which intersect territories, then several smaller ones. The third leadership position is currently vacant though... There was an accident in a dungeon, you see."

"So what is your exploration team actually called?"

"Oh, I forgot about that, didn't I? Hm yes, we call ourselves Team Wing. Originally our team consisted of myself, Savart, the Salamence, and Rayon, a Swellow, who left our team to join team Blitz a year ago, leaving the third leadership position empty. However... Team Blitz, except for one member, are all dead. I still can't fathom how it happened." Eye hid it well, but the sadness in his voice was very sharp. Maybe that's why he was being... Well, somewhat aloof.

"So... The guild is a collection of exploration teams?"

"Precisely. We are almost there. Up ahead, here." I must admit I hadn't expected what it was. A massive head of a Snorlax rose up, its mouth open as the entrance.

"Oh, lovely."

Eye smiled. "Yes, I thought the same thing at first, but... We get used to it. Snorlax is more than willing to put up with a Pokémon who needs a place to rest for the night."

"Just as long as they're tasty..."

Eye stepped forward, right in front of the mouth, and a voice rang out. "It's a Xatu! Eye, why are you so late?"

"Because our dungeon was harder than anticipated. Now let us in. Also, I have a Cubone with me. He will stay the night."

"Fine, fine. Remember how Krar went off at me last time, though, when I didn't announce it was you?" The gate which closed the Snorlax's mouth opened. It was just a bit weird... Either someone had a really bad or a really good sense of humour. Hard to tell. I followed Eye through. He jumped downwards, wings slowing his descent gracefully. I noticed a ladder and decided to take a less flighty way down. Grovyle leapt over my head, causing me to jump and slip slightly. Gem followed, chiding him, while Clover also climbed down, landing softly on the ground by jumping from about halfway up after I had reached the ground.

Eye motioned with his head to follow him. I did, walking along several hallways until we reached a room with a large door on the front. Eye lifted the knocked telepathically, and let it fall several times. The door opened, and a regal Staraptor stared down his beak at us. His voice was the of the kind of someone who was used to being obeyed. "What do you want, Eye?"

"To talk to Snorlax, what else?"

"Hmph. He is currently-"

"Up and about." A very deep, peaceful voice answered. A massive Snorlax stepped forwards, smiling happily. "Well, Eye, I thought you would be back before now. So the ice posed more of a problem than you thought?"

"Yes. Snorlax. Also, we have someone who will be staying the night. And maybe a few days after. He'll need to see Kanamar." The massive Pokémon sat down in front of me, smiling gently. I gulped. No matter how peaceful he was, Snorlax was big. Very big.

"Krar, go and get the papers please." The Staraptor flew off, muttering under his breath. "You have nothing to fear from me. I am very cautious with my movements, little one."

And I thought only psychic Pokémon could read thoughts... Although I did relax a little. "So, what is your name? And why are you here? I know this may be tedious, but we need to record things like this, just in case something comes up later." Krar tossed Snorlax a large scroll, which he caught rather daintily.

Eye took up the explanation as I hesitated again. "He's here because he needs to see Kanamar. He's lost his memory. Amnesia. And I don't know... Can you recall your name?"

"... No. I can't."

"Hm. We need to put down a name though... Let's get Kanamar in here. Maybe he can help."

Krar fluttered off, returning several minutes with a Kadabra. "So, this is him?"

"Kanamar. Remember, be gentle."

"Hmph. Being gentle does not help with memory recovery. Sometimes the probe may hurt."

"Um, what exactly is going to happen?" I tried, and failed, to keep anxiety from my voice.

Eye frowned. "Grovyle, Gem, Clover, you can all go now. You look dead on your feet." The three other members slipped out of the room looking relieved. Eye continued. "Kanamar is one of the exploration team healers. He does excellent work with both injuries of the body and of the mind. He has treated five cases of amnesia previously."

Kanamar nodded. "Yes. However, because the memories are nonaccessible, I must pull the forth, which can be painful. You, I have no doubt, will be better off after you regain your full life. So relax, imagine what it may be like..."

I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. _Okay, so it will hurt a bit. So what? Like Kanamar said it would- _My thoughts suddenly cut off. _It might hurt? _MIGHT! ?The pain was almost as bad as the pain from the nightmare. It was almost as bad, not because of how much it hurt, but because I couldn't do _anything_ about it! All I could do was try and bear it. Right. I have that much tolerance to pain. Yeah, sure.

The next thing I remembered was waking up again, lying on the floor. Kanamar looked shocked and puzzled, muttering to himself. "No, that cannot be... Impossible, impossible. Perhaps I made a mistake... But no, that is also impossible... Or rather extremely improbable."

Wh-what happened?" Eye looked relieved that I had managed to speak, and Snorlax offered a giant hand, helping me into a sitting position.

"You passed out. I can tell you were in terrible pain."

I nodded. That had hurt... And I still couldn't remember anything... Why was that? Even Krar looked a bit surprised. He turned to Kanamar. "What happened?"

The Kadabra broke off his mutterings. "I have gone over in my mind what I did eight times already. Everything was perfect. But... There were no memories to recover. It was as if a legendary had destroyed them."

"Is that even possible?"

"Some likely could. I think your fighting instincts, knowledge of words, and everything like that remain intact. But your past is completely lost. As well as anything to do with it, such as the mystery dungeons. Perhaps you were an explorer and got in a very dangerous situation... Sometimes a dungeon will eject you, but some things can happen when it does. I recall one case I treated, the third, had been knocked unconscious in a dungeon and was found with no memory."

I gulped. That didn't sound like it had been fun. _So was that nightmare just a nightmare, or something worse? _Snorlax grunted softly. "What do you plan to do now?"

"Huh? I don't know. I mean, if Kanamar is right, and I was part of an exploration team, I guess joining one would be a good idea... And they go a lot of places, right? So couldn't they help me recover my memories? But I don't know."

"Well, despite this recovery having failed, I still must offer you our hospitality. But since you have no recollections... You need a name to go by."

Krar laughed. "Naming is easy. How about Skull?"

"No." I said flatly. "I am not going by the most generic name for my species. Nothing bone related. Or ground, or anything like that. Please."

"How about Zayan?" Snorlax shrugged self consciously as everyone looked to him. "I just thought it sounded nice."

"Zayan... No, it isn't bad at all. Alright. Seeing as there isn't a better name for me... I suppose I'll have to go by it. Thank you."

As Eye once again beckoned for me to follow him and we left I heard Krar remarking "Zayan? Where did that come from?"

"Oh, something from my past... In fact-" The door shut and I couldn't hear anymore. Darn. I had wanted to know where it had come from. Eye gently pushed me forward with one of his wings.

"Snorlax doesn't like it when people eavesdrop."

Darn. He had noticed me hanging back slightly. Eye continued speaking like he hadn't reprimanded me, but just stated a simple fact. "I'll show you to your room now. And tomorrow, you will have to decide what you want to do."

"By that you mean, do I want to join an exploration team? And if I do, which team do I want to join?"

"Yes." Well, I had one team in mind... Then again, I only knew one team.

A polite, smooth, somewhat slow voice hailed Eye. Though beneath it was a mocking undertone, just subtle enough that a person couldn't complain about it. "Eye, you're back rather late. I must admit I was wondering if the dungeon you chose was too much for you." I did a quick turn, though Eye wasn't surprised at all.

A Cacturne was standing in the long hallway, yellow eyes narrowed, a very broad smile on his face. "Noctus." Eye said curtly.

"And who's your new friend? Another member for the mighty Team Wing?"

"Perhaps."

"Ah, he would be the one who lost his memory. I unfortunately overheard Kanamar muttering to himself as he went back to his room. It's such a pity that I have problems getting to sleep when there's noise." Noctus seemed to have an odd habit of putting large amounts of emphasis on some of his words. "Well, I must say goodnight now, since my team has a mission planned for tomorrow. I hope you two will excuse me." He turned and walked away, still smiling.

"Okay, that was creepy."

"Noctus is the leader of a hyper rank team, Team Riot. You could even call them Team Wing's rivals."

"Hyper rank is..."

"Oh, right. The ranks go normal, bronze, silver, gold, diamond, hyper, master. Master rank teams are the absolute best. In fact, I think there may only be one or two right now, out of the multiple teams which exist."

"Team Riot isn't accepting members, are they?"

"No."

"Thank goodness for that." Eye chuckled.

"Noctus takes some time to get used to. But, don't worry, you'll be fine. And here is your room. If you _are_ considering requesting to join Team Wing, then Savart will be visiting in three days. He'll be the one to choose whether you join or not. I don't think there is anything else which you need to know right now. So I will also bid you a good night." I entered the room that Eye had left me at, closing the door carefully. It was nice enough, a window which let some starlight in at the side, allowing me a view over the ocean. _Wait, the ocean? Wow, this place is pretty big to stretch all that way..._ I wondered how many Pokémon it held. A soft bed was at the corner of the room. I quickly stretched out on it, tired from the, what, hour, maybe, that I had been awake. Some things just are taxing on the mind.

* * *

Okay, first real chapter done. And I know I said that this wouldn't be the wake up on the beach knowing you're human story. It isn't. One of the protagonists knows he's a Pokémon, and woke up on a cliff. See, I change things around a little. Though that nightmare will come back later on in the story. Oh, I promised the OC submission thingy at here, didn't I? The here it is:

But first, a few notes.

Firstly, if you want a character to be on one of the two mentioned teams... Team Riot, I already have all the members planned out, so bad luck to you. Sorry, but I know some things I'm doing later for this story, so, yeah. As for Team Wing, I am willing to accept characters for them. However, I encourage you to make your own team.

Secondly, if there's only one character you really care about, and is on a team, I would still like a little info about the other members of the said team.

Thirdly, I would appreciate if you use complete sentences where possible. And anyone submitting a character with texting style typing... I need to be able to understand what you're saying.

Finally, NO LEGENDARIES! NONE! I will not accept legendaries for this. I have plans for them later on... Hehehe. And on the current plans note, I can't except character who would completely screw around with the plot. I doubt anyone will actually make someone like that, but you never know...

Okay, here's the actual thing:

**Team Name:** Assuming they are on a team. Names already taken by various teams: Shadow, Hundred, Incinerate, Blitz. Also, read the reviews where teams have been posted already to make sure your character isn't a more or less repeat of someone else's.

**Name:** Obviously I need a name

**Species:** Once again, something rather obvious

**Moveset:** If there are any specific moves you want, tell me.

**Personality:** Do I even need to explain what this section is about?

**Backstory/other information**: If there's something important that the character does, i.e. some problem from the past, some habit they have or whatever, I should probably know, since I won't exactly be able to guess it. I am psychic, but the problem is that my powers don't work unless the person is near me. (Please, please, please tell me you knew I was being sarcastic there – My powers work when someone is within a mile.)

**What they are: **Wild Pokémon, recruited onto a team? Outlaw? Client? Exploration Team? If so, what rank? Someone who wants to be on a team?

**Meeting place:** Where does Zayan (well, probably Zayan) meet them?

And... I think that's it. So, see you all next time, when I (maybe) actually get some OC submissions. And, yes this story is going to come out slower than my FFCC. Because I'm more focused on that right now.

And also, a cookie to you if you can guess who Noctus is kind of based on. Hehe, I bet one person I know could tell me.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the long update time, everyone. I'm working on another story, which is easier to write, so I'm kind of spending a bit more time on it. Hope you like the chapter. And we have two OC teams here.

* * *

"HEY EVERYBODY, IT'S TIME TO WAKE U-U-UP~!" Well, that was one way to get someone awake. I looked around in vain for something to stifle the blatantly loud voice, which went on for another wonderful thirty seconds to describe how lazy Pokémon weren't fed, how sleeping in late was bad, and a few other things. Sunlight was sitting in a pool on the floor of the room I had been sleeping in. I made a vow to get back at whoever was shouting. Because, honestly, if they needed to get everyone up at once, they could have done it in a much less obnoxious and sadistic way. After the mini rant had finished, several voices answered it. "SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU NOISY BASTARD!" My feelings exactly. Well, maybe not the swearing.

I walked out into the hallway to find a Whismur smiling innocently up at a massive Rhyperior. "Oh, did I wake you up? Sorry, but you know it's my job here."

The Rhyperior growled and stomped away. The Whismur frowned at his back. "Well, someone seems upset about something. Oh well, I'll manage to wring the truth out of him sooner or later." I looked around, noting all the other Pokémon who were heading in the same direction as the Rhyperior, many of them looking like they were used to this wakeup call and it didn't really bother them. I spotted Eye among the crowd and hurried over to him. "Hey, Eye, does this happen every morning?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to make sure you got some earplugs or something like that. Your skull probably helped mute the noise a small amount, but Bellow has a way of making people get up."

"And I thought Whismur were supposed to be quiet."

"I did as well, until I met him."

Another large group passed us, looking in somewhat of a hurry. "Eye, how many Pokémon live here?"

"I couldn't tell you. But over fifty teams operate out of this guild. Some are already heading out for their missions. I think that you will also go on a mission today, just so I can see how skilled you are."

"Okay. But I get breakfast first, right?"

"Correct. Here." Eye turned into another, much more crowded, wider, and louder hallway. Multiple tables were set out, all kinds of Pokémon sitting all around them, eating and talking loud enough to be heard. Eye carefully negotiated his way between the tables, before sitting in a curiously shaped seat beside Gem and Clover, who were both talking to one another between bites.

Gem looked up from some fruit she had been eating. "Oh, hey Zayan. Eye already told us about what happened."

I nodded, and took a seat beside Eye. And then I noticed all three of them staring at me. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Would you like some fruit?" I took a slice of an apple, then slipped it under the skull I was wearing.

"No, I do not plan to take this off."

"Aw. Darn it. Practically no one knows what a Cubone looks like beneath that skull..."

"Not even we do."

"Really?"

"No. When we're born we're given a skull before we can see properly."

"But... Doesn't anyone bother to take it off?"

"We probably get so used to it, that we don't. Either that or there's some custom about it."

Clover and Gem were looking surprised, while Eye was, despite his beak, managing to smile knowingly. "You two do realise that he isn't being serious."

"Oh. Hey, don't do that! And stop smiling at it! I might not be able to see your face, but your eyes say it all!"

"Alright, alright. I promise I won't do something like that again." _Actually, I don't even know what I look like beneath this skull. I suppose I'll have to find a mirror or something like that._

"HEY, WOULD EVERYONE QUIET DOWN PLEASE?" I winced as Bellow's voice ripped through the dining hall, causing a momentary silence. "Thanks. It was getting a little loud."

There were several laughs, and some snide remarks about the little Whismur's comment. The Rhyperior who had shouted at Bellow before made a rude gesture towards the little Pokémon, before turning to talk to Noctus, who was sitting beside him, _still_ smiling as he looked around the now quieter hall.

"Hey, who else is on Team Riot?"

"Hammer, the Rhyperior who's beside Noctus, Volt, an Electivire, Sestra, a Gyarados, and Arck, a Haxorus. The last three have been on a three day mission. You have to walk a fair ways to some of the mystery dungeons. And ones which are far away tend to be more dangerous."

"Please tell me I'm not going into one of those today."

"No you aren't. However, there are some things you have to know about them."

"Okay..."

"As I said before, mystery dungeons exist where time and space are warped, meaning you heal and get hungry faster. And it is also very hard to kill someone in a mystery dungeon, meaning you don't have to hold back against any wilds in such a place."

"Alright." I could see one problem with Eye's choice of words. _It is also very hard to kill someone..._ Meaning that it wasn't impossible. "Eye, what _will_ kill someone?"

"Ah. Well, injuries which would prove just barely fatal will not. Things which, given time, can heal are very rare to kill someone. But certain things which are most definitely not healable will result in death. Drowning, though it takes longer, extremely severe burns, some poisons, blood loss, decapitation-"

"Eye, shut up! Some of us are trying to eat."

Clover threw the apple she had been about to take a bite from back onto her plate, a look of disgust on her face. "No, some of us _were_ trying to eat. You didn't have to go into examples!"

Grovyle shrugged. "Meh, it's not so bad. I mean, remember what happened to Mar? He wasn't exactly happy after that."

"Okay, can we _stop_ talking about things like that?"

Oh, great, now I was curious about something which would, in all likelyhood, make me want to throw up. Great... "Who is Mar?"

Eye made a motion with his wing, indicating to a table behind me and to my right. A Riolu sat at the table, talking with three other Pokémon. A Haunter, a Bronzong, and a Wobuffet. The Riolu turned around, revealing the strip of black cloth wrapped around his head was not, as I had suspected, a headband, but rather covering his eyes. "I know you're looking at me. And I can tell you're curious. You would be new here, yes? To answer the questions you undoubtedly have, I can tell all this because my kind are able to sense the aura of those around them, meaning that I can read emotions, to a degree. And I could hear Grovyle mention my name. Which likely means that he is referring to what happened to me more than five years ago, am I right, Grove?"

"Yes, and you know I hate it when you call me that."

"Well, to ignore the egotistical lizard, I lost my eyes in a fight with an outlaw Fearow."

"It... It..." I shuddered. No, I did not want to throw up. But I still didn't exactly feel well. Something about how casual and blunt Mar was about it.

"Yes, you heard right." The Haunter who had been sitting (okay floating, the point is that it was in/on a chair). "However, what happened after was even more surprising. Mar completely took down the Fearow, beat it into submission, then insisted on walking out of the dungeon and handing it over directly to Magnezone."

"Nightmare, enough. Come on. We have to go now. Truniror, Pathath, let's go. We have a rescue to complete." The Brozong and Wobuffet followed him out of the dining hall.

"And now you know about Mar, the leader of Team Hundred. He uses his unnatural talent with the aura to fight."

"I'm not sure I should have asked. Is he always that blunt?"

"He has a reputation for having no sense of humour, and not the best temper. However, he is a very powerful fighter. He's mostly the reason that Team Hundred is the Super rank they are now." I noticed that most of the other Pokémon had begun to file out of the room as well. Actually, practically everyone but us had gone. The only ones remaining were Noctus, Hammer, and a Larvitar, who was sitting by himself, staring at the table.

Suddenly a soft, gentle voice echoed slightly around the hall. "Eye, you do realise what day it is?"

Eye turned to a Chandelure which had floated out of the wall behind him, purple flames painting the wall behind him an odd colour. "You promised to help us with the rescue at the desert."

"Oh... No, I completely forgot. Some things happened." Eye was quiet for several seconds, his eyes flicking between each of the members of his team. "Grovyle, Gem, find a mission for yourselves today. Clover, you will show Zayan the ropes."

"Does this have something to do with my choosing a bad dungeon last time?"

"Completely. Very well, Solenence. I will await you at the crossroads." The Chandelure bobbed up and down twice, then floated once again through the wall which it had left.

"I will not be supervising your training, Zayan. Clover knows enough to show you the ropes though. Find a good mission, one not too hard."

"I _know._ How can making one mistake bug you so much?"

"One mistake cost Rayon his life. Think before you speak!" Eye's voice cracked like a harsh whip throughout the more or less empty hall.

Noctus chuckled darkly. "Not like you to lose your temper, Eye. Rayon wouldn't want that, now would he? But then again, my team isn't as great as the mighty Team Wing, so what should I know?" Eye stalked from the room without a further word. Hammer edged slightly away from Noctus, who was grinning evilly. "Ah, taunting others can be so fun sometimes. I'll apologise to him later, for it was a rash choice. Hammer, we also have some _business_ to attend to. I just hope Arck makes the right choice. If he doesn't... I won't be able to complain to him, now will I?" Noctus left the room, followed by Hammer, who was taking great care to not walk too close to Noctus.

"Is he always that creepy?"

Grovyle shook his head. "Nah. He's acting pretty tame today. Probably because you're here, someone new. He likes scaring people, but he doesn't like completely terrifying others... At least he says so."

"How did he get his team to be such a high rank?"

"He only goes on challenging missions, ones which sound 'fun'. If you ever see him fight you'll know why." Grovyle's words were very dark. "He left his last challenger under Kanamar's care for three weeks. C'mon, let's look at the message boards. Actually, Gem, you pick one out and I'll get the second bag."

So I was led up the long ladder to a second floor. Gem pointed to two boards covered in various postings with her tail. "Missions. The one on the left if the outlaw notice board. Criminal bounties are put there. Clover, don't choose one from there. The other is for general rescues and such."

"I know! Gem, leave me alone!"

"Hey, you two, who's your new friend?" The voice was gruff and demanding. I turned to see a Scrafty, arms crossed, eyes mildly annoyed. He was standing in front of the outlaw notice board.

I felt myself pushed forwards by Gem's tail. "Don't worry, he might bite your head off, but only figuratively. This is Zayan, perhaps a recruit for our team."

"Huh. So you're looking for a bounty?"

"Easy, Spire, easy." A Chameleon pushed Spire gently. "Hey Gem, nice to see you again. Sorry if this was one you might have wanted." He held up a poster showing an Ivysaur. He winked nonchalantly. "Probably not, though. Who expects a plant to hide in ice? Anyways, catch." The Charmeleon tossed a rolled up scroll to Gem, she caught it with her tail, allowing it to unroll, scanning it. "Perfect. A water mission. Thanks, Reshram!"

"It's nothing."

"Pick out a mission for another team. And I thought you were lazy."

A Froslass, who had been drifting side to side slightly behind the two smiled lightly. "Please, Spire. Rehsram may be lazy, but he can be kind. Good luck on your mission, Gem. And you to, Clover and Zayan. Spire, please don't start an argument." Spire snorted, walking up to the ladder and jumping up several rungs, paper still clenched in his fist. The other two followed swiftly.

"That was Team Risen. They're all ex-criminals."

"Criminals?" It seemed kind of odd to me.

"They specialize in outlaw mission, having been criminals themselves they know how to track and take down law breakers. And, before you ask, Reshram was an arsonist, Spire a thug, and Saithe was a con artist. They are gold rank, which they have obtained _very_ quickly. Well, given their backgrounds it might not be surprising."

Clover hadn't been listening, but had been instead looking at the jobs on the right hand board. "Here's one. It's a new dungeon which appeared close enough by. Only an hour's walk or so. Someone lost an item in it... An invisify orb."

"Huh?"

"Right, you don't know about orbs or anything. I'll explain it to you on the way. The bag already has enough to get us through a little dungeon like it. Come on, Zayan, let's go."

"Good luck you two! And Clover, make sure that Zayan gets some practice."

"Yes, _mother._"

* * *

We left the guild, following a long set of stairs downwards. At the bottom a huge group of Pokémon were walking back and forth, heading in all directions. "The crossroads. Every team which has business passes through here at some time of day." Clover adjusted the strap of the bag across her shoulder. "Oh, perfect..." I looked up and followed her gaze. A Bisharp was politely handing out death glares to every passerby, lounging against a post while a Houdoom was amusing itself blowing puffs of fire into the air. A Crobat was flapping around in the air above its head. And a Sableye completed the group, looking around with diamond like eyes, sharp little teeth bared in a smile. It kept walking around, twitching occasionally. "Team Shadow. Team Risen might be ex-criminals, but they're already thieves. No one has proven it... Just be careful with anything valuable around them. Zayan? Is something wrong?"

I was clutching my stomach, shaking. Finally I managed to straighten myself, face hurting slightly from the grin. "Team _Shadow._ Perhaps _the_ most often used names. And to think that it's mainly dark types..." I laughed aloud this time, shaking my head. "Oh, I know I shouldn't be laughing, but really, it's kind of sad."

"The Sableye's the leader. Lattice. He's a kleptomaniac. And a good one. The Bisharp is Wurtas, Tox is the Crobat, and Rowth's the Houndoom. Right, I'll explain everything to you as we head to the dungeon. Just stay away from them."

We managed to slip by Team Shadow (I was still snickering slightly), but a Flaffy wasn't so lucky. Lattice's hand moved so fast it was a blur. As I cast a glance over my shoulder I saw him tossing a blue sphere back and forth between his hands.

Once we were away from the commotion and bustle of the town Clover began explaining the most common gear that exploration teams used. Various seeds and berries which had a various, if mild, positive effects outside the dungeons. But within they were a lot more potent. Clover tossed and Oran berry in the air, explaining how it could ease pains outside a dungeon, but inside it would heal injuries with surprising speed. He she pulled out one of the blue spheres which Lattice had stolen. "Orbs. Ask Eye how they're made, he has a habit of messing with them. But they do all sorts of things. Like confusing enemies, freezing them in place, allowing you to leave-"

"But can't you leave normally? I mean if you're knocked out you get kicked out, right?"

"Sorry, they let you leave _without_ losing a bunch of stuff. If you get forcibly pushed out, the dungeon somehow keeps some stuff you have with you as a sort of penance. Some other orbs can change the weather, send enemies flying, teleport the target somewhere else on the floor... Hundreds of uses. But... Right you don't know much about the dungeon's layout... Mystery Dungeons seem to always have the same number of floors, but whenever you descend a level the layout changes. There are always stairs somewhere on a floor, and wilds won't follow you down them. Criminals often hide in them, because of the anomaly of space and time. The warping of space makes it difficult to find them, and some dungeons travel at a much slower pace than the rest of the world, so a criminal can hide for an hour and come out a day later. Most travel a lot faster than the normal rate of time, but some are slowed. There's one where an hour inside is a year outside. It's been forbidden for anyone to go in it. So criminals try to get in, but they tend not to succeed. Magnezone, the law enforcer around here, keeps a very close eye on it."

"Say, Clover, why do some Pokémon go by their species name? I probably knew this, but I... Forgot." I finished lamely. It was kind of embarrassing. So much I knew, but there were huge gaps in my knowledge.

"No, really?" She smiled to show me she was joking. "Okay. Some think the species name suits them, or just can't think up or don't want to have a nickname. Most of us have one, but I think there are maybe ten in the guild, including Snorlax, who go by their species name." She seemed a lot more cheerful away from the various reprimands of her team members. Another few minutes passed in silence, when I noticed her tossing a small badge back and forth. Almost every other member of the other teams also had them.

"What is that?" Clover's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, damn. We forgot to get you an exploration badge! These take advantage of the anomaly, dumping us outside the dungeon if we're badly hurt. But if you don't have one you get trapped. Arceus, this is going to be annoying. You have to be _very _careful not to get hurt badly."

"Doesn't seem too bad, though. What's the Mystery Dungeon called?"

"The Flooded Forest. It's an easy enough place."

"Flooded. As in lots of water." I felt a shiver snake its way up my back.

"Which I have an advantage in. And you won't be hurt from getting a bit wet. I know you're weak to water types, but you'll do okay. Besides, the wilds inside aren't very strong." I wasn't feeling that way. Very nervous, yes. Confident? Not so much... Clover somehow noticed my feelings. "You'll be fine. I promise. I'll watch your back."

"How did you tell?"

"Your skull hides your face. Your eyes show a lot more from it though."

"Oh. Looks like I need practice in a lot of things." I gripped the bone tighter, which managed to hurt my hands, and not the least relieve the tension which was gathering inside me.

"Eye wouldn't have given you this offer if he didn't have high hopes of you. The dungeon is only two minutes away, see those trees? Let's hurry."

* * *

**Flooded Forest Floor 1**

"Something's... different. The air seems off. What does it mean?"

"We're in the reaches of the dungeon now." Actually, the feeling had started as soon as we entered the forest, monolithic trees rearing overhead, blocking the sun. The dirt underfoot was damp, sucking at my feet. "The person who put the notice up said they lost the orb on the fourth floor. Let's see... There are always stairs leading up or down to the next floor. So we have to find them, and keep an eye out for wilds."

"Alright." I did my best to keep close to Clover as she scampered around between trees. And then I was tossed into the mud as something hit my back. Just water. Water which stung like you wouldn't believe. I rolled over and saw a little Pokémon, spherical with a spiral pattern taking up most of its front, looking at me very angrily. "Uh, Clover..." Suddenly the Poliwag crumpled to the ground, shuddering.

"They're weak to electricity. Come on, get up. You can't be too badly hurt." I thought about disagreeing, but decided against it. My back was still hurting. Clover's eyes were shining with fierce determination and excitement. _She really likes this. Likes overcoming the challenges, the exploration. I wonder, do all members of Tema Wing like exploring so much?_ "Zayan, you there?"

"Sorry. I was thinking."

"I guessed. Thinking your way through a fight can get your hurt. Sometimes instincts work better. I'll move at a slower pace from now on. But the stairs are over here." A set of gray, plain stone steps lead upwards. As soon as I got off the top one they vanished.

* * *

**Flooded Forest Floor 2**

A massive open space from the trees, roots several feet above the ground, was where we were. Several more of the blue amphibious Pokémon were already there. Throw in a few Lotad... More water. Whoopee. "Just stay still for a minute." I obeyed and felt a mild jolt along my legs. Apparently the others felt something a lot worse, because they collapsed, convulsing. "Water conducts electricity. I just stunned them, though. Come on. There's always a wide path between the trees which is easier to go through than the roots themselves. Actually, those are so tangled you'd probably get trapped among them."

Two led out of the, for lack of better words, room which was formed by the trees. We would have been able to walk side by side, but, since it would have been cramped, I fell in behind Clover. A sudden turn led us to another room, this one with a massive purple snake waiting, a large frill unfurled. Arbok. It hissed as it noticed us. "Are all wilds angry and vicious?"

"More or less. And this one doesn't look like it's going to give in easily." The serpent hissed as if in agreement and struck, moving with incredible speed. Not fast enough, since Clover was naturally fast, and I was so tense that my reactions were enough to avoid the angrily seeking fangs. It pulled back, then its eyes glowed, leering at Clover. She practically seemed to freeze in place.

Apparently I'm not above hitting something from behind. Who knew? Anyways, the bone collided hard with its lowered head. The Arbok hissed and reared upwards, attacking a second time. It bit deep into my arm. Was I some form of pain magnet? Or just unlucky? A second blow to its head sent the fangs deeper, causing my more pain. On the plus side, it completely knocked the snake unconscious. I gingerly separated it from my arm, examining the deep scratches, beginning to feel sick, dizzy, and sleepy at the same time.

"Zayan, don't go and faint. Hey, stay awake." Clover was talking, but I couldn't really bring myself to care. "Zayan! Hey! Wake up!"

"OW! Arceus, Clover, that hurt!" My skin was actually mildly burned from where she had placed her tail on, sending a short burst of electricity along it.

"Here. Eat this, and fast." I took the pink coloured berry, quickly swallowing it. "Pecha berry. It has a bunch of antidotes in it. You were going to faint because of the poison. Sorry about your arm, but I couldn't think of another way to get you to snap out of it."

I flexed the limb in question, finding it completely intact. "I should be fine. A little burn won't be too bad. I guess I should be glad I'm resistant to lightning to a degree, right?" The dizziness came back for a second but quickly vanished again.

"Do you think you'll be able to continue on?"

"I sure hope so. It would be kind of sad if I failed the first exploration I ever went on." I pushed myself to my feet, once again snatching up the club, flicking a drop of water from it. After another few minutes of searching we found the second set of stairs.

* * *

**Flooded Forest Floor 3**

The instant we reached the top I went into a fighting stance, because three Pokémon were walking towards us. A Skitty, a Marhstomp, and an Umbreon. The Skitty nodded, while the Marshtomp waved. The Umbreon, on the other hand, called out happily. "Hey, Clover! Good to see you again!"

"Oh, Tetra. Hello. Samuel, Rose." Clover waved to the other two. The Marshtomp smiled back, adjusting a necklace with a shell on it.

"What are you doing here, and who's this?" The Skitty asked, a little curtly.

"Rose, this is Zayan. Zayan, Rose. She's the leader of Team Rhythm."

"And Zayan is?"

"He might end up on our team."

"Oh really? That's good. Team Wing seems like it will have a good new member soon." Tetra was smiling. Than Arceus she smiled happily. Noctus had enough creepy smiles for the entire guild. "So what mission did you take this time?"

"Someone lost an invisify orb on the next floor. What or who are you looking for?"

Samuel answered. "There's an outlaw hiding somewhere around here. Zayan, what happened to your arm?"

I glanced at it. The bleeding had stopped, but there were still two marks where the fangs had broken the skin, and my arm was still mildly burned. "An Arbok bit it. And Clover had to shock me."

Rose turned to Samuel. "I thought you handled it?"

"I did. Huh, it must be pretty strong to recover that quickly. Oh well, no major harm done. You two seem okay from that encounter."

"Well, maybe it hurt, but you know a bit more about fighting them, right?" Tetra's cheerful smile never wavered.

Rose interrupted. "It's been nice, but we do have to find that outlaw. Good luck, Clover, Zayan." Rose turned and walked towards the stairs, which were, conveniently enough, right behind us. Samuel followed her up, and Tetra paused at the bottom.

"Nice meeting you, Zayan! Good luck you two! And good luck joining Team Wing! You'll do fine, I'm sure!" A twitch of her ear, which had a red bow around it, and she was gone up the stairs as well.

"Okay, is it natural for an Umbreon to be that cheerful?"

"No, not really."

"Is it natural for a dark type? Not counting dark ghosts."

"Nope."

"Is it natural for ANY Pokémon to be that cheerful?"

"If their name is Tetra, yes. She's pretty much impossible to depress."

"Kind of the opposite of Rose. She didn't seem to take to well to seeing us."

"She has every right. She doesn't trust easily. I think Eye is the only one she trusts in Team Wing. Something happened when she first went exploring, one of her team members stabbed everyone in the back."

"Wha- But... Someone would actually do that?"

"You'd be surprised." Clover's voice had gained a dark tint. "There are rumours of groups of Pokémon which aren't the ones you'd want to know. Ask Grovyle. He knows more, as he knows Reshram pretty well. But we're wasting time. We should be going on. Let's find that orb and get out."

* * *

**Flooded Forest Floor 4**

Team Rhythm had already left when we arrived at the top of the stairs. After several silent seconds of searching I heard a soft buzzing. "Clover, can you-?"

"Yes. Bug types live in forests, but I never saw any when I went through here last time." I backed up, so that we were facing opposite directions. The buzzing hum intensified, and my bone was almost wrenched from my hand as something smashed into it. A blur of green, the buzzing sounding louder, and then everything faded to normal except for my numbed hand. Clover had felt the shock, because she half turned. "What was it?"

"Clover, decapitation was one of the ways to die, right?"

"Yes. Don't tell me..."

I felt fear push itself into my voice. "That was a Scyther."

* * *

I apologise to anyone who has named a team Team Shadow. Excuse me for a minute while I laugh my head off at you. Yes, I sometimes put little pet peeves of mine in characters.

So, we've seen the first and second OC teams I got. Team Risen, by Whipindafayce, and Team Rhythm, by megzarie. I did them out of order because it was easier to do Team Risen first, due to the appearance location. I have plans to involve them further in the main plot. But that's later. Actually, a lot of stuff is later, seeing as this is the start of the story. And of course I leave with a cliffhanger.

So, tell me, did I get them well, bad, or what? Because I try my best, but my best isn't always good enough. Sometimes criticism of the way I do my best allows me to do better.

Anyways people, you do realise you DON'T need an account to review/submit an (or more than one) OC, right? Okay, just checking. And you can also tell me what you think of the story so far. Oh, and here's the form for an OC submission:

**Team Name:** Assuming they are on a team. Names already taken by various teams: Shadow, Hundred, Incinerate, Blitz. Also, read the reviews where teams have been posted already to make sure your character isn't a more or less repeat of someone else's.

**Name:** Obviously I need a name

**Species:** Once again, something rather obvious

**Moveset:** If there are any specific moves you want, tell me. (I do not adhere to the 4 move thing in this, so if there are certain ones tell me, but I always assume that they know a fair chunk of the possible moves learned via level up).

**Personality:** Do I even need to explain what this section is about?

**Backstory/other information**: If there's something important that the character does, i.e. some problem from the past, some habit they have or whatever, I should probably know, since I won't exactly be able to guess it.

**What they are: **Wild Pokémon, recruited onto a team? Outlaw? Client? Exploration Team? If so, what rank? Someone who wants to be on a team?

**Meeting place:** Where does Zayan (well, probably Zayan) meet them?


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Pokémon or Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Disclaimer, etc, apology for really long cliff hanger, will be writing a lot more, chapter start!

Clover let a lovely word slip from her mouth. Okay, maybe it wasn't one word, and maybe it wasn't exactly lovely. She seemed to have a talent for expressing how I felt. Well, she seemed more angry than worried. Me, I was terrified. Seriously. I was nearly freaking out. Then the same green blur appeared before me. I had a brief impression of a scythe slashing, then dull thud as it slashed, catching one of the nubs of bone that went downwards from the skull I wore. Thank Arceus. This thing seemed pretty tough. Okay, I had a headache, but nothing that a bit of rest wouldn't cure. Only one issue. The Scyther had vanished again, leaving me dazed. "Zayan? It attacked again, right?" My head took a few seconds to understand the words. My reply was a nod, then Clover asked the question again. Right, she couldn't see me...

"Yeah... My skull seems to be good at protecting me..." I murmured, then... Okay, practically screamed. I shouted anyways, as the Sycther tried another strike, right on top of the skull. Not a chip in it though. Just it worsened my head ache. "Clover, it keeps going for me... Get ready, I think it might go for you next..." I whispered. Lull the more dangerous enemy into a false sense of security. That was what I was thinking. I mean, aside from her being more experienced, flying types don't do well against electricity. And as I just stood there, waiting to have an arm or something slashed off, I saw the blur again, tried to move the bone to counter it. Then brilliant light surrounded us as Clover let off a burst of electricity, pasting the entire area around us with the flashing bolts. And I saw the Scyther stop, then flicker back to its hiding place. It had paused, just quick enough to avoid being fried. "It... wants to avoid being hit..." I whispered. "This is... Are wilds this smart...?" Nope, I wasn't talking just out of curiosity. I had seen where it was hiding among pillar like roots, and was waiting. "When I say now, can you send a blast of electricity right in front of me...?" I added more quietly.

"Mhm." A tense hum from Clover, but that was enough for me. I was beyond tense at that moment, anticipation and fear building sharply in my chest, waiting for the strike, waiting to be released. Then I noticed the eyes of the Scyther vanish, another blur, it slashing in front of me, the bone half blocking the blow which was likely meant to do some very serious damage, left a red stripe along my front as it glanced off the white club. Then I felt the tension release. Physically, and literally. Did you know that the skull that I was wearing was strong enough to not even be scorched by the jet of fire I let lose? Twin streaks slashed at the Scyther. (Hey, I found out one of the moves I knew! Awesome! Aside from the situation...) The bug fell onto the ground, wing most of one side on fire, rolling in the mud while I was too shocked to tell Clover to electrocute it. And then I noticed it whimpering. "No more! Stop, no more!"

Apparently Clover heard the words as well, because she spun around, then moved forwards, taking a place slightly in front of me. The Scyther was still whimpering and writhing around in the thick mud, which had put out the flames that had begun to take a hold and eat at the wing which had received the scorching. "Wilds can't talk, though..." I muttered, completely confused. Now that the battle was over I felt strangely calm and detached from the near panic which had slipped away.

"No, they can't." Clover said, placing her tail against a sharpened blade, a few sparks jumping along it and sending the owner of the scythe into a spasm of twitches. "Which means that he isn't a wild. Actually, it means that he's the one that Team Rhythm was looking for."

"So he wasn't attacking you because he was scared of getting shocked and maybe knocked out? And either getting left in the dungeon or getting kicked out of it and being found?"

"Basically." Clover pulled and orb out from the bag she was carrying, except this one's blue was cut in two by a red stripe around the middle. Seeing my look of questioning she handed the sphere to me. "One of Eye's creations. More like something he's edited... He takes different orbs and plays around with them, making them do certain things. How connected the red is shows how confident he is it'll work. So a solid red line means it should work every time, but some have just one or two red diamonds on the sides, those are ones he's still developing." While Clover explained I was turning the orb around, staring at it, only half listening. Well, more than half but my attention was still divided to what had just happened.

"Clover, what I just did..." I started. How to phrase it? That was the problem, sometimes words have issues with conveying emotions and thoughts. "I mean, that wasn't a fluke, was it? Could I do It again? I mean, after all... That was a fire type attack, wasn't it?"

I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye. "Yes, it was, seeing as I didn't pack any blast seeds, and I don't think you ate one. Your kind can learn moves like that, it's just very rare for a Cubone to know how to do something like that."

Well, those words were comforting to a degree. At least I'd be able to use the move again if I had to. Hopefully. "So... what move was that?" Ah, yes, back to my embarrassment at my lack of knowledge. Wonderful.

"Well, was it more a big bunch of fire or a stream?" Clover inquired, to which I answered it was the later. "Well then, it was probably Flamethrower. Now, do you mind passing the orb back to me?" she asked. I had kind of forgotten I was holding it, even though I was staring right at it. My mind was elsewhere, wandering around and about the new discovery of something I could do. Wordlessly I handed it over, and a few seconds later there was a flash of light and Team Rhythm was standing a few paces away.

Samuel was the first to speak. "Did we step on a trap or something?" he asked, eyes roaming around, the lighting on the still twitching Scyther. "And what the heck happened?"

Clover elected herself to speak, a good choice since I probably wasn't going to. "No, you didn't step on a trap. I used one of Eye's tampered orbs, he messed around with a Rollcall Orb. And as for what happened, you missed the outlaw you were supposed to be capturing, so we had to handle him instead."

"Oh wow, that's great! I mean, about you guys beating him, not you two having to take him on. But what's even better is this!" Tetra managed to pull and orb from the bag which Samuel was carrying. "Ta-da! I found this just before you called us here, it's an Invisify Orb! Good, huh?" Need I say it? Yes, Tetra was smiling.

"Well that saves us some work." Clover remarked. "Though we gained a lot as well..." she added in a mutter to me, then handed me an Oran Berry. "You might want to eat that. Seeing as, well..." she motioned to the cut, which was still bleeding a bit, though not badly. "Just be thankful you got that in a Mystery Dungeon, otherwise it'd be a whole lot worse." Well, I did feel instantly better after finishing the fruit. And the bleeding stopped about ten seconds after I did, that was another plus, as well as the wound starting to heal right before my eyes. Apparently I looked shocked or something because Clover grinned.. "Right, first time in a dungeon." She said. "You get used to stuff like that after a time. And now that we have everything, let's get out of here. Hey, Rose, Tetra, Samuel, come over here." She called to the three who had been tying the Scyther up. Rose gave Clover a rather miffed look, so Clover instead walked over to them. "Alright, I get it, you'd have to haul the bug with you." She said placatingly, turning to roll her eyes a little. I followed, forming a group of six, and then we were out of the dungeon, instantly.

Believe me, using an escape orb to leave a dungeon is not the most pleasant of experiences. It feels like someone wrapped a rope around you and then yanked it very hard upwards while spinning. So when I was out of the Mystery Dungeon, its understandable that I fell to my knees and almost threw up. Aside from the fact that cleaning the skull would suck if I did. However, everyone else seemed perfectly fine. So, it turns out that you only feel that way if you don't have an exploration badge. On the plus side my feeling sick allowed me to have an excuse to zone out Tetra's constant cheerful chattering. Seriously, it was almost a constant babble of comments, all in a pleased and happy voice. Samuel was also talking, and Clover throwing in the occasional word or two, but I sensed that she was beginning to feel a bit annoyed as well.

Well, our parting of ways was pleasant. Tetra of course was bubbly as ever, Samuel was thankfully calm and more or less brief, and Rose actually thanked us, though the smile seemed rather forced. Clover went to give the lost item back to the Pokémon who had put up the notice for it, while I went to my room to go and sleep. Yeah, I was tired from all that. Is that such a surprise? Turns out I was sleepy enough that when I woke up the sun was shining. And Bellow was yelling again. Ad I wanted to hit him. Hard. The tunnels must have had some sort of echoing effect...

Get up for the rush of various Pokémon running along towards the dining hall? Not likely. So I waited a while, THEN got up. After all, that was the better choice, in my opinion at least. Open the door and nearly bump into someone who I _really_ didn't want to end up bumping into. Noctus, again. He smiled, apparently trying to look polite and happy. Yeah, not happening... "Hello Zayan." Casual, cheery, and still extremely eerie. "Look, I know I have a negative effect on others, but I was wondering. There's a mission my team'll be going on in a few days, your abilities could be extremely useful. I'll give you time to think about it, okay?" he asked, tipping his hat down and sauntering off, leaving me rather... Worried. A mission which they could use help on? What the heck...?

I hurried into the dining hall, taking a seat near Team Wing. Eye smiled to me, shoving something across the table with telekinesis. I picked it up, turning the small badge over. Well, it wasn't hard to guess that it was an exploration badge, right? I mean, it was something I needed pretty badly for missions. "Thanks..." I murmured, turning the badge over in my hand, examining it. "How am I supposed to keep it on me though? I mean, do I carry it around, or...?" When I looked up I was suddenly blinded by a blue sash that was flung into my face. Well, that answered the question. It was easy enough to tie around myself and slip the badge onto. "Okay... So what happens today?" I asked, looking between the four members of Team Wing. "Another mission?"

Eye dipped his head in response. "Clover told us about how you handled yourself in the dungeon. I think we may have been a bit too doubting of your abilities, you seem to be strong enough, well, not to enter dungeons that are a challenge to us, but ones which are not completely easy to get through either. What I'm saying is that, you are most certainly not on the amateur level. You are definitely beyond that. However, nor are you at a professional level like us. But due to the fact that you will be accompanying us, we will be able to enter dungeons which are beyond what you'd be able to cope with on your own. Come." He commanded, beginning to walk to the exit of the mess hall, which was once again rather empty.

It was a short walk to the outside of the guild, and then to the cross roads. Except we didn't go as far, since Eye spread a wing to prevent me from going further when I tried to. "It is not necessary to walk, that would take several days. I am able to teleport us to whatever dungeon we wish to enter, provided I have been there before. " he explained. "Is everyone ready?" Eye added, looking back to the other members. Both Clover and Grovyle had backpacks and gave quick nods of confirmation. "Very well, let us begin."

Imagine walking to a place far away. Now imagine all the images you'd see in doing so all compressed into one second. That's kind of how it felt like when Eye transported us. But then we were staring into a cave, the entire area overgrown with various mosses, shrubs, trees, and so on. "Grass types, right?" I asked, taking in the area.

"Well, you would be right, once we get further in. The first half of the dungeon is actually quite easy to get through, and it holds more rock and ground and steel types than grass Pokémon. However, there's a marker, a safe point, whatever you want to call it. It is a break in the dungeon, which then continues when you leave. But if you turn back at the marker then you end up out here again. The dungeons are warped in such a way. This one is called the Overgrown Cave. Now, the area we are going to is known as the Deep Overgrown Cave, which is rather more challenging than the initial part. Come on, we'll be fine." Eye said, walking forwards into the cave. With a glance at everyone else as they walked in I too followed the group.

Yeah okay so fun start of the chapter, boring end. Oh well, what happens happens. You guys know you can review without an account, make a character if you want, I'm too lazy to type out the stuff for character creation right now. Sorry. BUT on the plus side I am back to writing and I WILL be trying to get a chapter done every day of this week. Yeah you read correctly. So hopefully five chapters out, then. Then I don't know, maybe one a week or so.


	5. Chapter 5

Okay so. I'm kind of going to fast forward through the first half of the dungeon because, well yeah. Nothing much to happen really...

Entering the cave the air instantly changed, once again feeling... warped almost. I walked along behind Team Wing, kicking at a small rock which made an excellent attempt to trip me. Our first encounter was that of an Aron, the small metallic rodent like Pokémon making a lunging tackle towards Grovyle, who laughed and hopped out of the way. The Aron was quite suddenly sent lying as Gem's tail smacked it away. "See? Easy to handle." Eye said to me. _Well of course it's easy for you to say, isn't it? I mean you're all, well, very powerful..._

The multiple floors which we passed down passed surprisingly quickly. Why? Well, quite simply, because three of the team members were ridiculously more powerful than the wilds in the dungeon, and one who was quite a lot more powerful. And then I was just kind of following them while they did all the work... Well it was nice, but I kind of would have liked a chance to practice as well, seeing as I probably needed it...

The long walk continued for what felt like a day and at the same time only a minute before I began to get hungry, though I decided not to mention it to anyone. A few floors later Grovyle took an apple from the backpack he was carrying, tossing it to Gem, then to Clover, then Eye and myself. "Starting to get hungry?" he said with a smirk and a wink towards me. I nodded, breaking a piece off of the apple and slipping it under the white skull, apparently much to Grovyle's annoyance, given his sudden frown. A few minutes later when all of us had finished our food we came across a large open cavern, brown coloured rock shaped very much like a room with flat sides. Compared to the normal cramped tunnels which made up most of the dungeon, this was a very nice change. What wasn't nice was what happened as soon as we had all stepped into the room. About fifty different pokemon all appeared near simultaneously. Just appeared out of nowhere. "What the-!" I shouted. Eye looked around briefly as the group advanced. A few Onix, some Aron, a Rhyhorn, a Lairon, two Graveler, a large number of Geodude... And to top it all off at the head of them, and approaching very quickly, an Aggron, roaring out its challenge. "Monster house." Eye said. "Sudden appearance of a large number of Pokémon." The Aggron was nearly on us when Eye opened his wings, sending it flying backwards, crashing into a group of the other Pokémon. Whatever he did I felt the wind that was likely just a side affect almost completely unbalanced me. "Everyone ready?" he asked as the large group began to close around us. Everyone but me nodded. Well that was comforting...

Then the chaos came, though in a sort of organised way. Groyle leapt around, blades on his wrists slashing about, striking out and dealing sharp blows to anything which came near. Gem moved with surprising agility and sinuous grace, easily dodging about as well. Clover was moving quickly also, but instead of lashing out, she sent out quick jolts of electricity, leaving the ones hit jittering and collapsed on the ground, soem of them with rather painful looking burns. Eye was handling himself quite well also. Well, he probably could've handled the entire area by himself. Everything just seemed to bounce away from him, every single attack. Well, anything which got close enough to try and tackle him. The occasional rock was thrown by the Geodude and Graveller stopped and went flying right back at them, with far more force than that had been thrown. Eye seemed to be hovering slightly, a faint sheen of blue around him as he fought, head turning and tilting side to side as the enemies approached him, quick jerks of his beak indicating his will and tossing them against walls or into their companions.

And for me? Well, thankfully most of the wilds were distracted with Team Wing, but about five of the Aron decided that I was decent target to go after. Thankfully only one came at first, a running tackle which propelled me into the wall I was near. And then it fastened its mouth around my arm, making me try to wrench the limb away. Not a good idea as it turned out, it caused a substantial amount of pain, so instead I swung the bone, mashing it against the metallic Pokémon's side. It let out a weird yelp as it let go, allowing me to get my now bleeding arm to my side and smack it over the head, knocking it out.

The second rushed forwards with the third, and I inhaled ddeeply, calling up the flames which seemed to linger inside me when I needed to call on them, releasing the torrent against the two. One remained standing, but another quick smack to the head was enough. I let myself smile a little, feeling more confident now. Then... then the fourth leapt and I managed to move out of the way in time. Whatever material or Pokémon the bone came from it was super strong, because it was not in the least dented by the hefty blow. Then the final one was dashing forwards, hitting me straight in the chest. I heard a sharp cracking sound and pain bubbled up so quickly it was surprising, leaving me lying on the ground as it leaned forwards and fastened its jaws around one of the horn like nubs which protruded from the top of the top skull, whipping its head back and forth and, at the same time, mine.

And Aron have very powerful heads and necks, though it suddenly stopped its movements and began twitching. I jerked my head away from its mouth and felt myself lifted up to my feet. "There you go." Eye said, a small blue berry floating in front of my face. "Take it and eat it." I did so rather willingly, feeling my ribs as they became undamaged again, offering a small smile towards Eye, as well as a word of thanks.

"Still think this dungeon is my level?" I asked him once we reached the stairs leading down to the next floor.

Eye gave me something that seemed like a stern look. "Yes I do indeed believe it, monster houses increase how difficult a dungeon is by many orders of magnitude, and I do not, for one second, think you would not be able to handle your way through this place. Consider, you have no prior experience and this is your second dungeon. Once you have a few more explorations, as well as some combat training, which there is a dojo for located very near the guild, you will be perfectly able to handle areas like these." Then we were down onto the next floor, which passed by fairly quickly. Actually, I was first one down the stairs this time, due to the fact that they appeared right next to me.

When I had hopped down the stairs I encountered a very odd sort of statue, though it was made of leaves, and shaped like a Noctowl. There was also a Charamander leaning against a statue of a Kangaskhan, as well as a Kakuna which was sitting, or standing, well, resting between the leafy statue and the rocky one. A few seconds later Team Wing joined me down the stairs. "Well, Team Abacus, I did not expect to see you all here..." Grovyle smirked smugly, a small laugh escaping him, causing the Charamander to stand up quickly, a small growl and a flame escaping her mouth. Eye's wing quickly moved in front of Grovyle as the Kakuna shifted itself in front of the Charamander. Eye's words were admonishing. "Do not provoke a fight."

The kakuna twisted, facing the Charamander, its voice softer, but still a little commanding. "Storm, do not listen to one who will provoke a fight." Storm looked away, turning her back on us while suddenly the leafy Noctowl dissolved into a pink goo, from which two dot like eyes and a smiling mouth appeared. "Come on Grovyle, you know you shouldn't fight, we're both exploration teams. Can't you two get along?"

Grovyle stared at the Ditto before walking towards the stairs. "No I can't, now why don't you go back? Or are you going to actually manage to change form properly sometime?" he asked with a smirk before walking down the stairs at the end of the room. The ditto drew back away before making a small laughing sound, though she seemed disturbed. The Charamander, Storm, gently patted the Ditto. "That jerk..." she muttered angrily.

Clover looked towards the two, then away awkwardly. The Kakuna mad e a small wiggle. "His temper hasn't improved, has it? And the new member is...?" he said, looking to Eye.

"Grovyle always has had a temper and a rather... impolite attitude towards others, I've been trying to curb his tongue but apparently it has not been working recently, he was better for a time... And this is Zayan, a potential new member." I gently touched the tip of the bone to my head, well, skull, whatever, in a small salute of hello, looking between the three. Eye sighed. "I'm sorry abou Grovyle, please, ignore his sharp tongue." He said, then walked towards the stairs.

Gem made a small gesture of goodbye with her tail, following along behind Eye, while Clover gave a small smile to the Ditto. "Zerendis, Grovyle's a jerk, just ignore him. Think about how much you've accomplished." She said, then motioned for me to follow. As we were walking down the stairs she explained to me. "Zeredis has rather limited shape shifting abilities, meaning she can't perform as well as normal... Storm was exiled or something, something Grovyle used to bug her about and tease her for, and has a bit more of a temper. Zerendis is pretty happy normally. And the Kakuna, Havince, is the leader. As you can see they have a rather... gimmicky set of abilities, but he's able to plan and think quite well, able to come up with battle tactics and such for them. They make up Team Abacussilver ranked... this dungeon is suggested for gold rank or higher, so you can see that they're quite a good team if they're able to make it through. Now, the inner part of the dungeon is designated as super rank or higher, (Author's note: yes I know, I missed a few ranks in the chapter when they were talked about, sorry...) so we'll be okay. Now c'mon, let's make sure the dungeon doesn't shift before we get to the bottom of the stairs!"

Okay so hopping down the stairs was pretty easy, and we lightly landed on the ground, staring about, searching for the rest of the team, which turned out to be behind me. Somehow, since the stairs instantly disappeared. "Ah, there you two are, come along." Eye said. "And Zayan, please be very careful. It is mostly grass types down here now, and much more powerful than the groups we encountered before."

So along we went, tree roots stabbing through the walls much more evident, as well as various fungi, some mushrooms big enough we had to walk around them. I was tempted to just break through the thing instead of circumventing it, but Grovyle pointed out that we didn't know if they could poison us or whatever so I held my distance. Then we came across a blue Pokémon with short legs and arms, and a massive flower, red with white speckles, on top of its head. A bunch of petals flew around it, then whipped towards us. Gem whipped her tail around, scattering the petals away from me, thankfully. I had the feeling it'd hurt me a lot given all the scratches she had gained from the attack. Then a bolt of electricity and some psychic blast caused it to crumple. Eye examined Gem's scratches, but she shook her head. "Nothing major." She said to his scrutiny. "Better than Zayan would have gotten."

Down a few more floors, look around, find nothing of significance (well, some wilds who were quickly dealt with by the other team members) until we were strolling through another room. I was walking off to the side a bit, looking around, when suddenly I felt a cracking feeling. Under my feet, then the entire ground collapsed downwards, letting me fall straight through.

Landing? Not hard, really, it only hurt a bit. But near instant fear set in. I knew I was separated from everyone, and that scared me. _Okay, okay, what do I do...? Okay, okay... okay... What's wrong...? What happened? I fell through the floor, I know that much... okay... I need to... If I wander when they find the stairs they should manage to go down to this floor, right? Yeah, so... just wander around for now..._

So I began to wander around, when suddenly one of the mushrooms beside me shook and I found myself looking into a pair of viscious yellow eyes. I knew what it was, and Arceus it scared me. The green blades slashed. Thank goodness for the skull... It seemed to keep saving me. The next blow sent me spiralling to the ground, utterly confused. And to think the Scyther had moved fast... Once againa green blur, but the blades sliced across my back. And a few seconds later a heavy foot stomped sharply down on the skull. At least I think it was the foot, but the speed with which the green lizard moved...? it could've been its tail.

The next thing I could recall was waking up. Lying on a bed, then rolling over and standing up, reaching down to grab the bone which was lying beside the resting place. Well, as it turned out, I had been knocked out. Go figure. Anyways, the Team had tried to find me, but with no success, so they left the dungeon as quickly as possible, found me, and then brought me back to the guild, and Kanamar healed me. Thankfully... After I had walked out I met up with Eye and he explained everything to me, adding that he didn't blame me in the least. And he also had some other news. Savart, the official leader of Team Wing, was coming to evaluate me for joining.

So a tiem later we were waiting, standing outside and looking around in the sky. A blot of red upon the sky, a small shiver of white in between, soon grew very large as the massive creature landed on the ground, fierce eyes holding a kind light, thankfully. The massive dragon folded his wings, settling down. "Greetings Eye, it has been some time." The growl was deep but friendly. Eye bobbed his head, twitching it side to side. Savart gave a small nod, looking towards me again. "Very well. You wish to join Team Wing?" I responded with a small nod. "Very well." the wings unfolded and flapped, a shudder of wind blowing me around, making me wince as dust flew towards my eyes. "Then here is my challenge. We shall fight one another! And from that I will tell if you are ready!"

Ooh another suspenseful ending, no? Yeah, well, you get to see the conclusion soon. Anyways character submission form:

Name:

Gender:

Type: (outlaw, client, resident of Treasure Town, team member, etc)

Team name if applicable:

Personality:

Species:

Moves: (any specific ones, otherwise I assume knowledge of the majority of normal learnable moves by level up)

Anything else: Well, anything else I missed?

And yeah, no legendaries, etc.

And also. For those of you reading this, PLEASE REVIEW. Any thoughts, ideas, whatever... What did you think of the chapter you just read? I know people want submissions, but, could you all also please tell me what you think of things...?


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for my absence, I HATED writing this chapter, I just don't like this one. The next shall be better.

* * *

I looked towards Eye, shaking my head side to side slightly at Savart's words. _Fight_ him! A dragon, the leader of Team Wing! How the heck was I supposed to even come close to winning? Eye merely shrugged, a small smile in his eyes. Gee, thanks, laugh at me being anxious to the point of freaking out. Savart folded his wings again. "Not relishing the prospect, hm? Well, no one has, but it is a traditional way of becoming part of a team. However... Rayon had another way... Well, that rule of his, remember Eye?"

I expected a blunt retort, but Eye nodded happily. "Yes, if anyone could hit him before he got them would be allowed to join, no questions asked. You're thinking of doing that?" came the interested question from the psychic bird. Savart grinned, revealing teeth nearly as long as me.

"Oh most certainly." He leaned his head forward so he was level with my eyes. "So Zayan, if you manage to get the first hit me before I hit you, well, then you're in." _Okay, that might make things easier, I mean, I can use Flamethrower... But Savart probably heard about that... Eurgh..._ Then an idea, so rash, reckless, and stupid, flickered into my head. Savart drew his head backwards, looking to Eye. "Well, shall we beg-" he cut off, gaze flickering back to me, full of surprise. See, I had thrown the bone and hit him on the chest... Yeah, it didn't seem like such a good idea as the tension built up enough that it seemed like I was going to have problems breathing. I was later told that everyone stopped what they were doing for about five seconds. Felt more like an hour... But then the tension abruptly faded as laughter burst out, a deep, echoing boom.

My muscles relaxed and I sat down abruptly, exhaling in relief. Savart's laugh was loud, but not scary. Grovyle began to crack up, chuckling to himself. Eye retained a dignified look to keep the surprise off his face. "Well, you did say..." he looked towards Savart, who managed to slow his laughter.

"Yes I did say, but I never expected anyone would have the courage or lack of brains to do something like that, especially not such a new explorer. Well... My decision is that you are a member of Team Wing now. Congratulations." I nodded in acceptance as the pale blue tail swung, knocking the bone back towards me. "Eye. You'd better make sure he doesn't do anything reckless like that again, it could get him into some serious trouble."

Eye nodded, then looked to Clover. "Well, now that Zayan is an official member... Would you show him around Treasure Town?" He said it more as a command than a request. "Also, show him the dojo. Perhaps Tag could teach him some techniques and such that he likely forgot to use." Clover nodded, giving me a small elbow to the shoulder and picking up the white rod, tossing it to me once I stood up. To be honest? I was stunned. I just followed Clover, since that was what Eye had asked. As we left the Guild behind, we went to the Cross Roads, and finally everything which had happened began to sink in, making me laugh a bit. Clover gave me a weird look and I just shook my head. "I just... Can't believe that actually worked... And now I'm a part of Team Wing... it's... just very relieving." I did my best to explain.

Clover nodded, a wry smile on her face. "I failed getting in the first time, actually... Second time around I kind of... cheated to help me. See, that's kind of what Savart and Eye are looking for, someone our skill level obviously can't win in a battle. So if you can find some way to rig or mess around with the conditions..."

"Ahh..." I murmured, surprised. "Trickery to get in...?"

"Well, more so for Eye than anyone else. That's how I and Grovyle got in. Gem was able to actually challenge Savart for long enough... That's from before Team Wing split into three divisions. Ours is most famous for letting in new Pokémon. What Eye has often said, what Gem actually said before he adopted the idea, but it was that those with great potential should have a good place to grow to that potential."

"Great potential? Me?" I asked, then shook my head side to side. "Nah, not a - ow! What was that for?" I asked, as Clover had sent a jolt along my arm.

"Trust me, you have potential, otherwise Eye would've just suggested another team. You're more skilled than you know. Remember the Flamethrower you used?" I closed my mouth, deciding not to protest any further. I'd rather not get zapped again.

Well, the town was certainly bustling. I looked around. So many Pokémon. "Are all towns and cities this busy?" I asked Clover.

"Cities are a lot busier than this. But this is a pretty big town because the Guild is located right next to it. And here's the Dojo." She said, motioning to a cave like dwelling. "I'll wait outside. Tag'll explain it to you once you're inside." She added as I once again had a confused look in my eyes.

* * *

So I went in, staring around. A set of stairs uncannily like a dungeon's stairs led downwards at one corner of the room, the walls full of various things, odd discs, and a lot of berries. Then something landed in front of me, making me jump backwards. "No need for fear... My name is Tag."

The flame lighting his head from above cast an odd light over the Infernape's features as he squatted down, powerful and lanky arms crossing. "Eye said to expect you." He added. His voice was slow and calm, gentle and reassuring, someone you could trust.

I nodded quietly, glancing about. "What is this place exactly? It feels like a mystery dungeon..."

"Because it is. A long time ago someone discovered that it was, and since then many generations work has been put into shaping it. I know most are not shapable, but this one is. Every floor there is a chance to leave if one gets tired. Come, I will show you."

With that he back flipped, landing on his feet, then trotted down the stairs. I followed quickly, emerging into a vast cavern. "This is the dungeon, see those stairs leading downwards?" he asked, pointing across the room. "Those will take you back up to the entrance actually." However, my attention was more directed around to the dungeon. There were at least fifty Pokémon training here. A few I already knew. Hammer was knocking rocks from a wall, head and arms heavily bandaged, several other practicing at a distance from each other, bolts of various things, electricity, flames, what appeared to be ice, flashing around. But what really drew my attention was tall, spiky, green, as well a blue and blind. Noctus and Mar were battling, Mar moving very quickly and leaping about, Noctus staying in his spot mostly, raising arms to block various blows, barely moving from his spot but rather swaying around each blow until he caught the Riolu, sending him flying against the wall with a sickening crack. Mar wore a snarl, staggering upright, but instead of beginning to fight again he limped towards the stairs, hand clasped over his chest.

"Right, well, as you can see Pokémon can fight more to their full abilities than normal against one another down here because it is a Mystery Dungeon, albeit time is barely warped. Now, time to teach you a few basics. I'm sure you've used your club before to hit out at things. Well, you can increase the potency of your blows, watch this." The Infernape moved to a nearby boulder, clenching a fist and punching it, to very little, if any, effect. Then he clenched his fist again, finger glowing bright white as he mashed it down on the rock. This time the stone shattered, collapsing into rubble. "See? Almost every Pokémon can concentrate some of their energy into a part of their body, making it able to do much more damage than others. You, however, are able to do more. You can concentrate it into the bone, making it do much more damage to whatever you hit. Or you can make it spin in such a way that when you throw it it will be guaranteed to come back. And no, I can't teach you how to put the energy in it, just... follow instinct, almost everyone seems to be able to do it. If you need help Kanamar can probably help you."

Okay, well that was one way to make me want to succeed. My first meeting with the psychic had not been nice for my head and I didn't think a second one would be either. I closed my eyes, just... letting my thoughts wander kind of. I had no clue what to do after all. Then I felt a knock on my skull, and saw Tag doing a handstand. "Mind hurrying it up?" he asked.

Okay, I tried, but a second later he hit me on the head again. "You're being very slow about it." He remarked. Close my eyes again, ignore the insistent rapping of a fist on the bone right over my head... Very hard to do, but I managed for about ten seconds, then the knocking got louder. I opened my eyes and swiped the bone at Tag, making him jump backwards.

"Lay off, alright!" I demanded, but he just laughed, then motioned to a boulder, making a smacking gesture. So I did what I thought I was supposed to, swinging the bone, the rock cracking easily, making me jump backwards.

"See, it's much easier to call up that ability when angry. You didn't even realise you had, did you? Try throwing it, anywhere. It should come back to you. Go on, try." I took a running start, then hurled the bone flying high, tumbling downwards, then flying right back towards me. "See? Can you feel the pulse of energy, it's very faint for you I don't doubt, as you need not concentrate it anywhere in your body, but rather into somewhere you can't feel it. Easy, right?" he asked. Actually, not really, thought I tried focusing the energy into the bone again, this time without someone knocking on my head, and managed to do it after about a minute. "Well, okay not so easy, but it'll become much quicker with practice. However, as you can guess, you'll get worn out rather faster when you use this technique. So I'd be careful about overusing it, which can lead to collapse from exhaustion. And in a dungeon that is not good news."

_So be careful about not overusing it, but it can be very helpful... okay doesn't seem too hard to do... _I practiced tossing the bone around a bit more, almost hitting Hammer on the head accidentally, letting out a thankful sigh when I didn't and paying for my lapse in concentration by being hit by the object as it returned to me, leaving me rubbing my arm. And then yelping as a blast of fire scorched by back, causing me to roll over quickly, staring around. A Bayleaf and a Quilava approached me, the Bayleaf looking very apologetic, the Quilava a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry about that, it's my fault, Flare and I were practicing, and, well..." she murmured.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Flare commented, grinning a bit. "But no hard feelings hm?" he asked. "Come on Bei! We need to practice more and he's fine, so let's go!"

Bei looked hesitant, glancing at me apologetically. "Sorry, Flare is very... well, he's like that, but he's very good hearted..." she murmured, before quickly following after the Quilava apparently ill at ease.

"Well that was quick..." I murmured, feeling my back and wincing, then jumping up as Tag somehow appeared right in front of me. "Oooh, bad burn there. Flare again, huh? I'll talk to him, he does have a bit of trouble controlling that move. Well that kind of stuff happens down here you know, go down the stairs and you'll see a stock of berries, rawst berries are the ones you want to deal with the burns. I've taught you what you were asked to be taught by Eye, come on, go along. You'll be fine." Making my way over to the stairs, then down them, was rather painful, but the berries seemed to help instantly as I ate two.

And then a shadow blocked out the light, making me spin about in surprise. Noctus. "Considered my request anymore? If not I understand fully, please forgive my insistence, but we can't exactly go on it without someone of your abilities. If you're _unsure_ I could talk to Eye about it, I'm sure my _dear _old friend would be willing to_ lend_ you to our team for one mission. Yes I'll go do that." And then he strode away, leaving me staring after him. _No thank you... I'd rather not..._

* * *

When I emerged from the cave like building Clover was waiting outside, giving me a smile, then frowning. "Zayan you alright? You look kind of sick..."

"It's nothing..." I muttered twirling the bone around. "The training just took a fair bit out of me, even if it was a really short time." I kept my eyes slightly averted from hers. I just didn't want to talk about Noctus at all...

Well the rest of the journey around the town was much more pleasant than the fighting and meeting Noctus. I was shown the various shops, storage areas, and the like that exploration teams used. And we also met a rather interesting pair, a Lopunny and Buneary. Clover explained about them, an older brother and younger sister, both very skilled, though the older one, Clockwork, was far more able than his younger sister, Trickster.

When we returned to the guild I saw something I had really hoped not to see. Noctus and Eye conversing. When Cloverand I approached them Eye nodded to me. "Zayan, tomorrow you won't be working with us but rather helping Noctus with a mission. It is one we have been working together to have succeed for a very long time, and you are required on it, so I expect you to do your best."

_I have to go on a mission with _him_! _Needless to say I didn't get that much sleep that night.

* * *

**?**

Mar slid behind a bush, listening as Nightmare described the scene before them. "Fortin has something in his hands... A sort of gold necklace with a weird, spiral pattern as the pendant. The spiral goes clockwise, and there's little gold flames appearing and vanishing around it. That's all I can see. He's holding it like his life depends on it."

Mar shuddered. "I... I know what that is... That pendant... That pendant... No wonder they all died. Team Blitz, I mean. But who could have told Fortin about it? Who? And he must know what it does, he must. But... Argh, I can't figure it out. _Someone_ must have told him, sent a team on a suicide mission to go and get it. Damn it all. Listen, we need to tell Snorlax about this. Let's go."

Mar ran off, the Haunter floating, trying to keep up. I chuckled. "Someone must have told him about it. Someone must have indeed, hm Mar? But do you have any guesses? Come now, surely your mind is good enough to come to the conclusion of who it was, what _really _happened in the cave. I have. Hehehe, this is becoming more interesting by the second."

* * *

Alright so. I didn't realise a MONTH had passed since I updated. –headdesk- Ah how school can be so interfering... Anyways, yeah here's the next chapter. I've been focussed on brining my FFCC fic back from the dead so yeah that's probably why, since I think I put up... four chapters, five maybe? In the past two and a half weeks. So yeah. Anyways, I'll be trying to write this one more often, maybe a week and a half between each chapter.

And I hated this chapter. Necessary stuff in here, yes. But really, I just hated writing it, nothing exciting, just something suspenseful, happened. it was just one of those "get it out of the way" chapters

And Joshabi, sorry about altering the location of one of your characters appearing, but I prefer to have them all appear in one chapter, and the next one won't have anyone appearing in it. That or the next two.

As for the mysteryish reviewer ("X"), Lance will appear in the next mission Zayan does with Team Wing.

And if you can't figure out who is speaking at the end... Eh well your problem not mine.

Right. Well then. Please review

Character form:

Name:

Species:

Gender:

What are they: (explorer criminal etc)

Preferred meeting place:

Any special moves/abilities they have:

And I'm sleepy so I'm just gonna throw in a "What the heck else do you want to tell me about them?" here because I don't remember. There's a full form somewhere in the previous chapters...


	7. Chapter 7

"What a cheery day it is outside!" said the Cacturne, strolling along happily, swinging his arms up to behind his head in a quick motion. Arck leapt to the side, nearly being hit by one of the spikes as the green arm was flailed about. Sestra was wisely staying further away from Noctus than Arck had been, and I was even further away, out of a very strong desire not to be anywhere near the creepy grin. That had earned me a few calls from Noctus to hurry up and come along, but really? I wasn't planning on going any nearer to them. Noctus's flailing arms aside I _really_ didn't want to be here, I mean... Team Riot just weren't the kind of Pokémon I would find easy to consider friends.

But, as Eye put it, "Sometimes during explorations you have to work with clients you would really rather not. Consider this practice. And also, this mission is extremely important. Noctus would not have asked unless it was."

"So why exactly is it so important huh?" had been my cheeky response.

Eye had given me a glare which I winced at. "I will explain it if you succeed in it, not before, Zayan. Am I understood?"

So now I was walking along with part of Team Riot, watching Noctus nearly stab one of Arck's eyes out with a random movement of his arm, and then Noctus giving a reply which, if you just listened, sounded sincere, but if you took even a slight note of the tone it was clearly mocking. Not enough so for Arck to complain about. Though I doubted whether the Haxorus would have complained even if the tone had been outright demeaning.

* * *

"This place is called the Black Thunder Hill. How sound can be black I will never know, but ah well, let's go..." Noctus prowled forwards, arms swinging slightly as he walked, chuckling softly. Once again I asked myself why I was here. And once again I answered because Eye said it would be a good idea to learn to co-operate with other teams and had basically ordered me to join them on this mission. Yeah, sure, I'd be safe with Noctus in charge, but honestly? It was my mental welfare I was concerned with. Noctus was just... creepy. Plain and simple.

Despite my worries I entered the dungeon, walking cautiously along, moving along, dodging between rocks and brambles that littered the rather barren terrain, the brown dirt hills providing the walls this time. I could see up above towards the sky, but... I just felt scared about trying to climb one of the hills. An irrational, unexplainable fear, something my instincts were telling me to avoid. It just wouldn't turn out well. I snapped my mind back to the actual dungeon as Noctus spoke again. "Now, I know Arck and Sestra know this, but I think I ought to tell you this Zayan. The types here are often electric and dark, which you can guess by the name, but a myriad of poison and steel wilds also call this area their home. So as you can see, you'll be quite helpful here. And at the end is a powerful electric type we need to beat, where your abilities will come in _most_ useful." The cactus turned away, continuing to walk along, Sestra and Arck gliding calmly along after their leader, while I scrambled to not get left behind.

Three floors. Three floors of nothing, absolutely nothing. No wilds, nothing scattered on the ground, just monotonous hills. But then Noctus held up an arm, motioning into a large gap between the hills. "Sestra, Arck, take care of the two on each side, I'll handle the two in the middle. Zayan, cover our backs." He said, smiling before walking forwards in lurching steps. Four Pokémon were inside the "room", A Manetric, which issued a sharp bark to the others, before leaping forwards with surprising speed for the canine. Three others turn as soon as the first wild called out in its growly voice. A square faced, four legged, rather rugged looking Pokémon charged Arck, a Bastiodon, while a large crow, a peculiar hat of feathers on its head fluttered around Sestra, pestering her with constant pecks from its yellow beak. The final wild was a massive snake, even bigger than Sestra, steel body writhing as it swung its tail, lashing against the ground in an attempt to smash down Noctus. I retreated to a corner of the depression amongst the hills, keeping well away from the battle of the others. It was beyond frightening, surprisingly fast movements making swishing sounds as limbs passed through the air.

Arck grinned as the Bastiodon smashed against him, bracing himself against the ground, claws finding firm purchase on the black head, then he leaned over it, swinging one of the axe like protrusions on its head. I looked away as the wild struggled briefly, shuddering at the sight of so much blood.

Sestra reared up, trying to knock down the Murkrow, though it was proving agile. Until her tail slammed it onto the ground, blue body slamming down a second time, causing the bird to give a single squawk before convulsing and collapsing.

And Noctus? He was the scariest. The absolute most terrifying. The Manectric tackled him, or tried too, but I was too distracted to see much of anything. All I know was that it was suddenly lying on its side, out of the world. Then a massive metal tail smashed upon Noctus, briefly hiding him from view. A bit of anxiety built inside me, as it kind of looked like he was gone. Yeah, not a chance. One arm was held over his head, and he was laughing quietly, holding the tail up easily. A second blow just made his legs shake a little, then the Steelix grew frustrated enough to try and bite him or something. Huge mistake. As the gray snout neared Noctus he drew back an arm, and then punched. There was an ugly cracking noise as pieces of metal flew from where his fist had met the wild, and it reared backwards before collapsing, nearly landing on Arck as it did. Arck swore and gave Noctus an admonishing sentence, but whatever happened next I didn't notice since I kind of got a little distracted due to a massive purple scorpion scuttling from the way we had come.

The Drapion gnashed its jaws and pushed forwards speedily, short purple legs moving in a blur as it made its way forwards with a rather sinister gait, eyes flashing meanly. It lifted its tail and pincers as it moved closer, before rearing its head backwards and then stabbing forwards. I leapt back slightly, swinging my bone upwards, smashing against its mouth. It yanked itself backwards, shaking and blinking. _Alright, excellent, I got it... One more hit ought to-_ The thought cut off as I jumped away from its pincers. Now it looked distinctly peeved, and not in the least fearful or weakened. It had just succeeded in annoying it, nothing else.

And then its head slammed against the ground and the body shook a few times as Noctus grinned, staring at me over it. He had smashed his hand down on its head, spike now digging into the ground. "My apologies, I should've added that were you to _encounter _any wilds you should've come and gotten me so I could... _Deal _with them. After all, it would be _terrible_ for you to be _injured_ at such an early point." The grin never wavered as he drew his hand up, revealing a wide hole through its head. I quickly moved away from the corpse, shuddering and placing my hands on the ground weakly. _But it's really hard to kill something in a dungeon... Damn... And they aren't regretting it at all, they're _enjoying _it..._ I stood up and felt a white object pressed into my hand. Arck smirked.

"Don't wanna leave that behind." He said, indicating to the bone he had given me, blood dripping from one of the axes. I gave muttered thanks, not feeling grateful at all, but rather, very disturbed as Noctus continued onwards, leading us through the Mystery Dungeon.

* * *

Several floors passed with similar situations, me hanging back, others walking forwards, killing or severely injuring the wilds within the room areas, or Noctus taking down a wild in the corridors between the hills. He seemed completely at ease, as did Arck and Sestra, but the wanton killing made me feel nauseous, and very scared. Noctus may not have been insane, but he was something which could be called beyond scary. While Arck seemed to take a violent pleasure in the fighting, as did Sestra, Noctus rarely seemed to be truly happy, even with his perpetual grin. Then there was a massive gap in the hills, about ten enemies within the room. "Well, well, it's rare you see this many without a monster house. Ah well. Zayan, try and knock out one or two, hm?" he asked, obsidian holes of his mouth curved against the green skin, yellow eyes blazing as he lifted his head up, looking down at me. Then he was gone, running towards the wilds, with Arck and Sestra quickly following and myself going after him at a rather slower pace.

The collision with the wild Pokémon was fast and sharp. Noctus's victim didn't even have a chance to cry it, it just fell. Sestra smirked as she passed the Honchkrow before meeting head on with a second Steelix, rearing backwards and sinking sharp fangs against its steel body.

Arck's enemy was about his height and somewhat similar in build, large blue fin from its back bleeding badly as the yellow dragon slashed it with his claws. "Come on, this'll actually be a challenge!" Arck cried out, and the Garchomp gave a curious growling roar as it slashed furiously at him.

While the lesser two members of the team kept fighting their respective opponents the remaining seven wilds attacked Noctus, apparently deciding he was a rather formidable opponent and best to get rid of quickly. A Raichu, Manectric, two of them this time, an Absol, horn making an odd noise asking to metal being drawn over wood as it was blocked by one of Noctus's spikes. Two Electabuzz and a Luxray comprised the final foes, all of them hanging back, lightning flickering around their bodies. Then both Manectric sent sparks jostling around their fur furiously as well, and all the lightning types released the bolts at once. Noctus ducked, and every bolt converged towards me. I braced myself, gasping as the currents flowed over my skin, causing some pain but no real harm. Okay, that was enough to get me angry. I twirled the bone, hand gripping tighter, remembering Tag's lesson, then taking a hop skip step forwards, hurling the white club. It smashed against the head of one of the Manectric, knocking it over and leaving it unconscious. The second it came back to me I threw it forwards again, stunning the Electabuzz from a blow to the stomach. Noctus was meanwhile tearing through the ones I hadn't hit, arms moving in devastating punches of slashes with his spikes. The Electabuzz charged me, raising a fist. It gave me plenty of time though, to tell how to block its blow. I knew the punch wouldn't damage to bone, nothing seemed to. Then it smashed down onto it, making me stagger backwards, arm hurting from the jarring impact. As it moved forwards again I stepped towards it, swinging in a quick overhead blow, knocking this one out as well. When I turned to Noctus he was fighting the last Elecatbuzz, which was running away until he swung his arms again, a series of needles flashing through the air, felling it.

"Well, well, well. I'm _impressed_, Zayan, your skills in fighting are certainly _greater_ than I expected." Noctus said, examining the Electabuzz he had hit with the needles. Why I had no clue, it was clearly dead given the damage the sharp spikes had done.

* * *

It took a while longer of travelling, though we seemed to encounter less wilds as we went further through the dungeon. However the enemies we encountered seemed to become progressively more dangerous. At least for me, I was just trying to prevent myself from being knocked out or worse in each fight. Noctus, however? Well I just wanted to never have to see him go full out in a battle. Arck and Sestra seemed to be having an easy enough time as well, though not the lazy walk that they had made the fights seem like in the first few conflicts.

What startled me at the end of the final set of stairs was how drastically everything had changed suddenly. Instead of brown dirt and brambles there were a multitude of sharp stones, all forming a large ring and pointing towards us. Electricity danced around and across them, sparking from tip to a nearby tip, and occasionally lancing across to a far away spike, though no bolt went to the completely opposite side of the room. Thunder clouds were gathered overhead, blocking the sun and leaving the area with a dull gray illumination, except when a large spark flashed between two distant spires of rock. Then the shadows flickered and shifted for a brief moment, and the blue and white streaks of lightning left odd afterimages behind.

Noctus chuckled softly, causing everyone to jump in surprise and look at him. Aside from the crackling of the sparks the air was unnaturally still, humid, and stifling, just like before a thunderstorm. "Well we're here, now we just have to wait..."

And so we waited. I started counting off seconds in my head while Sestra swayed back and forth and Arck sharpened one of his axes against a seemingly inactive rock, until a massive bolt jumped towards it from its neighbour. After that Arck decided to stay away from the rocks.

I had reached seven hundred and forty nine before something happened. And by something I mean something dramatic and impressive. From the clouds a lightning bolt smashed against teh ground, blackening the rock in a ten foot wide circle where it struck. And from the bright streak of light stepped a yellow animal, prowling forwards on all fours, a cloud billowing of its back, tail shape like a streak of lightning, clever eyes flashing between the four of us. Small sparks crawled along its limbs and body, appearing and vanishing at random. When it spoke its voice was a deep and fierce growl, akin to the far off rumble of thunder. "I will warn you but once. Leave."

Noctus tilted his head sideways. "No I don't think so. You have something of importance to us, Raikou. And you made it _so_ inconvenient making me have to come all the way down here when you _could_ have just let Volt and Hammer take it."

"You sent those two who attacked me earlier?" Now the thunder sounded closer, a threatening rumble.

"You know the rules of the game you legendary Pokémon play. They weren't _strong_ enough, I am.." Noctus raised his arms and began to walk forwards. The yellow legendary let out a bark which echoed around the area, a crash of thunder directly overhead. Then the sparks around its body became much more rapid until it was cloaked in a glowing nimbus of lightning, which vanished upwards into the sky. My first thought was that, no matter how strong Noctus was, something of that magnitude would prove fatal. Then everything became a roar of noise and a flash of brilliant light, the feeling of sharp spikes of pain dancing along my skin, muscles tightening and pulling myself into a tight ball. And then nothing.

* * *

"Zaaaayaaaaaan you _really_ ought to get your senses back." Came a light voice. I clenched my hand, slowly easing my limbs away from my body, sitting up. "Well glad to see you're awake." Noctus said happily, smirking. That's when I realised the light noise I had been hearing at the edge of my mind was Noctus's voice.

Raikou had vanished from sight, while Sestra and Arck were lounging around. Noctus was holding a small blue gem, octahedral in shape, every edge a brilliant gold colour. "Glad you're able to hear me again." The cactus said as he noticed me sitting up. "Well, at least you're able to move. I assume you can hear me?"

I gave a brief jerky nod which made me feel sick as my head bobbed. My throat hurt, but I managed to speak. "What happened...?"

"Well, your kind has two abilities, lightning rod, which draws electricity towards you, and one which prevents damage from certain attacks that would normally rebound on you. Raikou used that lightning move, Thunder probably, and it got drawn towards you and knocked you out."

Sudden anger gripped me and I spluttered, trying to find words to express my anger. "You **what?**" I demanded, feeling furious. "You...!"

Noctus took a step backwards. "I did say your abilities would come in most useful did I not? And they did."

I was so tempted to hurl my bone right at his smiling face, but that wouldn't have been the wisest of choices, nor was I feeling well enough to at the moment. Instead I contented myself with sitting and staring away from him, stabbing the thin end of my weapon into the ground. Being used like that just...

"Noctus about him being knocked out." Arck called. "We still have the reviver seeds we brought along with us."

Noctus spun around and I twisted to watch. His smile had left, a weird surprise in his yellow eyes. "He wasn't? Then it was just the light and noise which made it so he couldn't hear and see?" Noctus prowled forwards, yanking the bag Arck had been carrying away from the dragon and staring into it before shoving it back towards him. "This is..." he glanced at me. Curiosity got the better of me then.

"What's wrong?" I asked, standing up stiffly.

Noctus frowned. "Volt and Hammer have similar and identical abilities to yours respectively." He said. "But both of them are still under Kanamar's care back at the guild..." the grin appeared again, though this time it seemed strained. "Seems you're stronger than you look."

* * *

Sooo Zayan is pretty pissed off. Go figure, Noctus brought him along to be a scapegoat. I wouldn't be very happy with that either.

But apparently Zayan is able to stand up to a lot... Hm. interesting. Ah well.

Yay another chapter up I guess?

And please review.


	8. Chapter 8

And I once again have managed to complete yet another chapter in this story. Mission is finished, ahe first part is talking and stuff. So yeah. Anyways. Let's get right into it, shall we? Oh wait two things. How's everyone liking the story so far? And also, I know this took a long time to update, expect something once a month from me probably given how school is a jerk and likes throwing tests and stuff at me... . I could've had this up two days ago, but I didn't. Why? Because then you would've had to wait for a long time for the next part... Better you see everything, right? Anyways, lets go. With that out of the way...

* * *

The ocean has a way of calming heated thoughts it seems. Well, from my particular viewpoint it did. The calm, clear blue waves, swishing back and forth in gentle, soft gestures, smoothly rubbing against the sand of the beach before drawing away, occasionally leaving behind some scrap of a far away land, be it a piece of wood or a maybe a chunk of porous rock. And sometimes reclaiming items just like those. However, when I felt someone behind me, yes, felt. Maybe I heard them but didn't notice consciously, it doesn't matter, all that does is that I knew someone was there, that particular someone being Eye, which he soon revealed as he stood beside me, staring down into the ocean as well. "A very soothing sight, isn't it?" the bird asked, wings folded around him like always. I gave a scarce noise of having heard him, my previous anger burnt out mostly. Well, at least the irrationality which came with it had fled. I was still rather irked by the fact that Noctus had brought me along to just use me as a living lightning rod. Noctus had talked to Eye and such when we got back, and I had stood by, listening to it for a half a minute before turning and leaving, ignoring the bird telling me to come back. "Zayan, you are very annoyed, I realise fully. But I do not understand why."

_So even you can't see everything huh?_ A snide remark in my head, which I half hoped he could sense part of it, being a psychic type and all. I kept my words controlled as I could, though my voice still trembled and shook. "Noctus used me as a living shield from a legendary's attacks. A _legendary_ Pokémon, Eye! Hammer and Volt, together, wound up in intensive care under Kanamar! And you expect me not to be angry!" So much for controlling my voice... "I could have been _killed_! I'm very lucky to not have been even injured badly!"

"Zayan. Volt and Hammer did not have any reviver seeds left over when they reached Raikou. Thus they were easily defeated. And you, you were not even hurt, did you not notice? Did you require any healing? No. I don't know why or how, but you were perfectly fine, and if you had been badly injured the reviver seed would have fully healed you. Would you have agreed to this mission if you knew you had to shield the team? There is a reason I did not specify as to what exactly had to happen." Eye's voice was much more controlled than mine, but a hint of anger cracked through as well before fading away as he continued to speak. "It is very vital that we got what we did. Here." The small crystal Noctus had been holding floated down in front of my face, hovering there quietly. I instinctively reached out and grasped it, holding it between my hands, gasping. Something came over me, I don't know what, a shiver, a fleeting glimpse of thousands of scenes, and then it was gone. But I could still feel a thrum of organised power running through the stone, like the steady beat of a heart, never out of time...

"So you can feel it as well." Eye said. "Most are not able to discern the chaotic nature within a dungeon key so easily."

_Chaos? But it feels so perfect, so aligned, so... right..._ "What do they do...?" I asked, moving beyond what Eye had said for a few seconds.

"Mystery keys, or dungeon keys as they are otherwise called, are items of immense power. They allow you to control a Mystery Dungeon to a degree... Before you ask, I will explain all I know of them. No one knows where they are from, legendaries guard them, for if they fell into the hands of someone weak they could do much damage, it takes a strong Pokémon to control them. Snorlax stores a collection within the guild, occasionally loaning them for use of a particularly difficult mission. They all look like this, though sometimes different shapes and colours, but the size remains similar. They all have different effects, fixing the location of stairs, or the layout of a floor, or reducing the number of wild Pokémon you may encounter. There are other, more powerful ones, which we do not talk about, that allow strange things to happen. We collect them as soon as we find out about them in case someone with... less than admirable morals decides to use them for their own purposes."

Well, thank you for taking away every question I had about them, Eye. That basically reduced me to silence again, listening to the soft pulse of energy from the dungeon key, feeling the ripples sending shivers along my arms. It was addicting almost, and staring into it sparked random thoughts and images across my mind, but all the same they seemed too controlled... Eventually I felt a tug and the mystery key was yanked from my hands, making me wince. The sudden lack of connection to it made me feel weak and sick, disoriented. Apparently Eye noticed my distress. "You're not the first one to feel like that, dungeon keys are very alluring. They have some quality about them which grips the mind and heart."

Yeah, that much was very, very true... It just had some indescribable quality which made it so wonderful and powerful... Just... it was... Just so powerful, enchanting, beautiful... Silence once more reigned for a time before I spoke as the key faded from my mind slightly. "Eye... Just how strong is Noctus? How strong are legendaries? I mean, I didn't see the fight, but..."

Eye tilted his head, staring upwards. "Legendaries are vastly, immensely powerful. However, in dungeons they seem weaker, contained. They are capable of unleashing immeasurable attacks and destruction, but within dungeons they seem limited to that of perhaps eight powerful Pokémon can defeat them. There are those beyond the strength of normal Pokémon though, in a sense. Noctus is one example, he likely defeated Raikou on his own... However he did have the advantage of being able to strike first... Savart and Snorlax could fight a legendary and win on their own. Gem would be able to if the typing was in her favour. Noctus as well, or if he got the first blow in, and myself... Krar and Kanamr could fight if they had a partner of similar strength..." Eye rattled off.

"Why would legendaries live in mystery dungeons though?" That didn't make sense. If you got hungry more quickly wouldn't you pass out? But then again... Wild Pokémon somehow lived in dungeons... _Noctus is strong enough to defeat a legendary...? I could see Snorlax being that strong, and maybe Savart, though I never saw him really trying to fight... But they both seem like someone powerful enough..._

"They do not, as far as we know." Eye said, fluttering his wings briefly. "Rather, the legendary that guards whatever is the essence of a legendary. I know you will ask what I mean, and all I can say is that somehow they create a guardian with their abilities which is akin to their average strength. Contact with legendary Pokémon is very rare, I was a Natu, and very young, when one was living in treasure town, but they passed away about a decade ago. And even then they were rather careful in guarding their secrets, and their kind's secrets."

"Ah..." I murmured, staring at my hands now, fidgeting with the bone. "So... What now? I mean, what's our next mission and such?" Something I was curious about, I'll admit, though now that my questions had run dry...

"We haven't chosen one yet, but I think we'll be doing another split mission. That is, you'll be going with a few others. Currently I am looking into a potential location for another mystery key. We'll see if I am right in a day or two, and if I am, then I think our entire team will be going to fetch it." I winced a little at the thought, fighting a legendary had not been fun. Well, more getting attacked by a legendary. Apparently psychic types and read thoughts or sense emotions better, or maybe the wince was a dead giveaway. But Eye stared at me. "I do not plan to use you as a shield, Zayan. I likely won't be necessary this time. I would have preferred to go with you, but my searching needs to be done, meaning that I was not and will not be able to go with you for this next mission. However, Clover and Grovyle will both be with you on the next one they choose. You're still in training, in a sense, but from what I've heard from everyone you would be fine tackling plenty of missions on your own."

"Eye, Clover mentioned something about... cheating to get onto Team Wing? Like... not so much pure strength but rather sneaking past the rules kind of?" I asked, feeling a bit worried once I had asked. I mean, I didn't want to get Clover in trouble...

"Ah yes, yes, I know what you mean..." Eye murmured. "Very well, a history lesson. How Team Wing formed and such..." Eye shifted slightly before beginning to speak. "It began with myself and Savart, we knew each other and were friends, and both wanted to start a team. At the time he was a Bagon and I a Natu. We named ourselves Team Wing because of all Bagon's desire to fly, as well as my own ability to fly. A short time after I invited Noctus, who had also not yet evolved at the time, to join our team, and Savart invited Rayon..."

"Wait, Noctus was part of Team Wing?" I demanded.

Eye nodded. "Is it that large of a surprise?" _Well yeah it kind of _is_..._ "Anyways. We grew and did missions, and rarely ever failed. We obviously did sometimes, bad luck or overestimating our strength, but we rose quickly in rank as a team. After we began to garner some fame, after we had all evolved, others began seeking to join our team. We declined at first, but began to realise the merits of having several other members. However, being arrogant then, we decided to only allow those who could defeat us, or come close. We didn't want any bogging us down, obviously. Then Gem came along. She managed to almost beat Savart, something which we decided was quite enough to have her on the team. Around that time Noctus decided to leave because his personality clashed easily with others and he was limiting how many decided to stick around when they joined."

Eye shuffled his wings slightly before nodding to himself. "Well, after that we continued to get requests, many of which we turned down. Gem spoke out against some of these, speaking of the future and not the present... Basically what she said was that those with potential to be great should be given the opportunity to fully do so. So we began accepting those we deemed would be powerful and such in the future... After a time we split into three divisions, each one to one of the major guilds... Rayon headed the one which took the most recruits in, Savart heads the more elite one, and our branch is the most newly formed, so we haven't exactly specialised at all."

"Mmm..." I hummed out quietly before turning the bone over in my hands again. So much had been revealed. Well I knew about the past of the team, but... _Noctus_ had been part of the group? Such an idea seemed almost unfathomable... He was so different... _But he decided to leave... because he knew he was hurting the team. Is he really that awful? He was nice enough to make a move like that, so..._ I shook my head slightly. _Gah... But he... eurgh... _I stood up, deciding to reserve proper judgement of the cactus to another time.

* * *

You know what's interesting? I finally woke up before Bellow began screaming loud enough to wake the dead, their relatives, several mountains fifty miles away, as well as every single Pokémon in the world. However, given that it was in the middle of a nightmare, that wasn't really fun. What was even more annoying was having absolutely no clue what the nightmare was about. All it left behind was a feeling of loss. Well, I stood up and quickly left my room behind, heading towards the dining hall. Someone had said something about the hallway along which rooms were arrayed causing an echo and making shouts louder, so, best be out of there as quick as possible. When I arrived at the hall there were only two others sitting there, a Banette which I recalled Eye saying was from Team Smoke, and the Larvitar, Fortin. I made a choice between sitting awkwardly between the two, or beside a creepy marionette who was grinning eerily at a plate of fruit which had been laid out. Not eating anything, but continuously stabbing at a piece with a rather... insane smile on his face. At least Noctus didn't do that as far as I knew... So instead I sat beside Fortin, helping myself to a piece of fruit and nodding towards the green Pokémon. He looked up, eyes filled with an odd tiredness, and nodded in return, before looking back to his mostly empty plate. "You're Zayan, right...?" he asked, the voice rather calm and soft, but also holding a melancholy tone.

"Yeah." I responded, tilting my head to the side. "Mind me asking why?"

"Why you're Zayan? Because you liked the name. Why I asked? Because I was with Rayon, who was part of Team Wing, when..." he shrugged. "Well when the fight in the dungeon happened..."

"Ah..." I stared down at my plate, having lost most of my appetite now that such a grim subject had been brought up. "Fortin, what exactly did happ-"

"No! No, I can't answer that, it was... Just too scary. We weren't the only team to go into the dungeon, several others came with us, but almost... well, not everyone made it so far, many turned back, we were hunting for one of the keys, a legendary key, the key of keys, it's been called. I found out about it, but someone must've wanted it for a darker purpose, someone who made it so far down with us..."

"Wait... Team Blitz wasn't the only team to go on the exploration?" I asked quietly. "I mean..."

"Team Blitz received the attention because they all _died_. Other teams split off before it could happen... Most other teams... But then we were attacked, some... monster, a guardian likely, attacked us, and... we couldn't... Amongst the chaos..." Fortin began murmuring something to himself and shaking his head back and forth. "Then after the fighting, the eyes, the voice... but no one will believe me... I have to leave, I know what happened, but I can't... can't tell..." He shook his head again, hands clenched. "Zayan, listen to me. Don't trust anyone, do you understand? Don't trust anyone, someone from one of the teams betrayed Team Blitz, and killed them when they were weakened... And they weren't even hurt in the fight... be careful Zayan, be careful..." And with that Fortin practically ran from the room, shivering.

I think I remained staring after him for about a minute before a heavy thunk and a cackle broke the silence, the Banette chuckling as he stabbed an apple all the way through. However, that caused me to come back to my senses, kind of, and stop my thoughts from going in a "okay that was weird" loop. _Okay, what exactly did he say? That wasn't just babbling...? They set out to find something very powerful... Key of keys? A Mystery Key? A really strong one by the sounds of it... Which would mean someone might want to get a hold of it, providing it was very valuable. And someone, a team which had gone along with the exploration... Someone killed Team Blitz...?_

Then the explosion of noise ripped out of the passage way, though it was thankfully muted. Then a bunch of Pokémon began to emerge, crowding the dining hall, making the noise level go up rather impressively between all the conversations amongst everyone at the guild.

I kept looking around, but I didn't see the one I wanted to talk to, Eye. Seeing as he was the leader of the team and knew Rayon, well, I thought it would be best to keep quiet and ask him about everything before talking to anyone else. Then Grovyle and Clover arrived, sitting beside me. "So, here's how the day's going to go. The three of us are finding a mission, taking it, and heading out. Eye and Gem are doing some investigating into something... Not another key, exactly, but..."

I opened my mouth, about to ask, then closed it. If they were keeping quiet perhaps I ought to as well... Well, we looked over the mission board, and Grovyle yanked one request down, reading over it and grinning. "This'll be good. Golden chamber." He said, pointing to the writing. "Golden chambers always have really good items in them. Heh. And I've heard of Lance, he's pretty good to work with apparently, provided we keep him from running into a monster house."

"Golden chamber...?" I asked. Grovyle sighed.

"Yeah, I know, you don't know a bunch of stuff. Anyways, Golden chambers are places made of pure gold, they sometimes appear in dungeons... They always have a few really valuable items in the center. This is certainly a worthwhile mission since we're sure to get something good out of it, and the pay is quite good."

"Alright, where's the place?" I asked, hoping to glean some information from the name.

"The Windswept Clouds. Ah, that place... Clover, feeling up to releasing a few bolts of lightning today?" Grovyle asked.

Clover smirked. "When haven't I been? Yeah, I'm ready, let's go already, I like that dungeon, it's fun. A tad challenging. And Zayan, stop looking so worried. There are a few flying types there, but also a surprising number of electric types. The only thing we have to really worry about are if something like a Salamence or Hydreigon shows up, but we can handle those easily enough, right Grovyle?"

"Wait, wait, wait. _SALAMENCE?_" I demanded. Oh great ANOTHER fun dungeon...

* * *

We met Lance, a Bisharp, near one of the exits to the town, and set off. He seemed nice enough, though a bit distant, keeping quiet an walking off to the side a little. After a few more minutes of walking Grovyle pulled a green gem from the bag. "Teleportation gem." He explained. "Allows us to travel to a dungeon if we don't have someone with the move. Hold still." And then we were suddenly standing on a mountain path, fog blocking my view of anything more than thirty feet in front of me. I glanced about. "Is this the dungeon...?"

"No, it's really clear in the dungeon actually." Clover said. Open sky, sunny out... The gem can take you within about fifteen minutes of a dungeon so it isn't affected by the warping of space and time and could randomly dump us inside it, or even another one miles away."

"Ah..." I murmured. Soon enough the mist began to clear away, the fog began to pull back, and bright sunlight filtered down from above.

"Welcome to the Windswept Clouds." Clover said, smiling, and also going slightly more tense, the way she always did in dungeons, ready to move in whichever direction she had to. Grovyle smirked, also crouching a little, while Lance nodded, seeming more tense as well. I also went tenser, and then we set off, further into the dungeon.

The first group of enemies we encountered were light blue, and had fluffy wings, small beaks, and looked... well pretty cute to be honest. However, when they launched themselves towards us I gave a startled yelp and leapt backwards, as the furious look in the eyes was anything but. Grovyle snickered and lunged forwards, smashing one down heavily onto the ground, while a bolt of lightning produced by Clover sent the bird spiralling down to the ground, fluttering weakly. A second later the third and final flew across the ground, several cuts slashed along its body. Lance turned away from the fallen bird. "Swablu are easy to beat." Lance remarked, heading further into the dungeon. Clover and Grovyle exchanged a glance and hastened after him, while I followed them quickly.

* * *

**Grovyle**

The first set of stairs we reached took us higher, but when we got further into the dungeon I got a shock. Suddenly we weren't standing on a mountain path, btu clouds. Clouds. With a drop off into clear blue sky down the side of each area, and a few walls of clouds. "Oh Arceus, oh Arceus, oh Arceus..." came the mutter. There was Zayan, staring around, fear rising up in his eyes. Unnatural, irrational fear. The fear I felt around fire, though I had learned to control it. "No, oh no, no, no, no, no..."

I rolled my eyes and sighed, motioning for Lance. Honestly, did he have to have a freak out here? "I guess he's never been in an air dungeon before?" came the voice from the Bisharp. I nodded, watching awkwardly. Zayan had potential, even I had to admit that, but he was still very new, and we did have to baby him through dungeons a little. Although, surviving a legendary's blast? Who knew, maybe he had more potential than we thought...? Anyways, Clover knelt down beside him, a hand on his shoulder, murmuring words to him, gently managing to get him to his feet after a fair time, while Lance gave the occasional impatient tap of his foot. _Bet you'd freak out if this dungeon was a dojo..._ I thought. Well maybe not, he was too calm for that, but still. Anyways, Zayan eventually got back on his feet when some weird breeze ruffled the grassy crests on my head, making me lift my head up worriedly. "Clover, did you feel that?" I called out. The yellow mouse gave a tense nod.

"Alright... here, each of you, eat one of these." I called out, tossing a seed to each of the members of our group. I bit into mine and felt myself tossed into the air, and heard Zayan let out something like a shout or scream of terror. Yeah he was kind of scared apparently. Whoops. Well, a second breeze accompanied by a deep rumbling echoed through the dungeon, making the entire structure shake. The stairs were right ahead and I quickly darted up them, motioning for everyone to follow me.

* * *

**Clover**

Okay, well that was close. Grovyle and I had been through that once before, the stirring of the dungeon. When we found it, we got kicked out, and Eye explained we had to get to the stairs as fast as we could. So Grovyle gave us a seed that warped us over to the stairs, and everything was good. Aside from Zayan, he was acting very nervous and twitchy. Not that I could blame him, the ground was pretty far from the clouds... I sighed, falling back and letting Lance and Grovyle move ahead a little, keeping with the Cubone, staying close by his side to make sure that he kept up. "So what was the weird... wind and stuff? Grovyle seemed really scared." Zayan said, staring off distantly.

"No one really knows, but a dungeon will kick you out if you stay on one floor for too long, and there's nothing which you can do to avoid it. Reviver seeds are useless, and if you don't have a badge you get stuck in the dungeon..." I explained. Really, whatever it was, it certainly was very dangerous in the larger, multi roomed floors.

"Ah..." Zayan muttered, nodding. He had seemed... distracted as of the morning. _Nightmare? He was up early..._ Well, whatever it was, I hoped he'd get over it soon... "Hey, thanks for helping me get over the... freak out before..." he mumbled. His eyes showed what his hidden face would not, intense embarrassment at such a reaction to being amongst the clouds. I smiled a small amount, his thanks making me feel happy to have helped, creating a small flutter of joy inside of me.

"Heh, I had a kind of similar reaction to going into a cave first... I didn't do too well with being underground..." I admitted to him. Though I made it seem a bit worse than it had been, I hadn't collapsed... "It makes sense to be scared of things which you can't fight effectively, but remember, you have your own way of handling things which you can't hit with your bone, right?"

"Clover!" came the shout, and I whipped my head forwards, leaping up to Grovyle's side and falling onto all fours, a familiar tingling feeling in my cheeks as I began releasing small sparks in preparation to fight. Six wilds were wandering around in a room, a Pidgeot, an Altaria, two Swellow, a Whimiscott, and finally a rather large orange dragon. Yeah, a Dragonite. Great. "Alright, back up a bit..." I murmured to Lance and Grovyle, before releasing a massive lightning bolt flying into the room, aiming straight for the Dragonite. It crumpled to the ground and then the rest of the wilds lunged towards us, and Lance flew towards them, leaping and slashing, throwing himself right into the middle of the fight.

"Great." I muttered, rolling away as a Swellow dive bombed me, trying to slash me with sharp talons before fluttering away. Grovyle leapt into the middle of the wilds, hacking and slashing with the grassy blades he had, clearing some room so he and Lance could stand back to back, hacking a path clear. The Swellow swooped again and I grabbed onto its tail, sending a burst of lightning along the feathers, the contact letting me knock it unconscious. Then a searing heat flared into existence and three of the remaining attackers fell to the ground, either dead or in a LOT of pain. Zayan was leaning on his knees as Grovyle and Lance finished the last enemy off. I was quite startled actually, that jet of flame would have left a Charizard rather envious. It left Grovyle looking pretty darn respectful of Zayan though, something which almost made me laugh. I mean, are you going to mess with someone who could do that? Probably not...

* * *

**Zayan**

Okay, so apparently everyone was rather impressed by that flamethrower... Why, well, it was a fair bit larger than I had created before, but I had been practicing since getting completely mauled by a Sceptile or Grovyle. Now I just needed a way to deal with flying and water types and I'd be perfect. Well, not perfect, but... I'd be able to deal with my weaknesses. Also I think me being terrified of heights kind of helped make that blast a bit more powerful than normal.

Moving through the dungeon, continuing on, we had several more fights and battles but nothing major. Until we reached where the clouds became stormy. No actual lightning flashed between them, but they were darker in colour. The final three floors before the one the chamber was supposed to be on were apparently like this, and this was where we encountered the more dangerous kinds of Pokémon, the dragons. Salamence and Hydreigon and Dragonite in large numbers. We mostly slipped around them, occasionally throwing a seed to disorient the massive creatures. However, the stairs on the last, the third floor, were guarded by two dragons, both with three heads, which launched a rather viscious attack on us as soon as we came close. Flames, blasts of energy, lightning, eerie rings of some shadowy material... Basically they threw a lot at us.

Lance, Grovyle, and Clover all ganged up on one of the dragons, bringing it down. Then suddenly some of the clouds parted, ripped apart by glowing rocks, blue and yellow streaks flying after them, massive meteors hurtling downwards, right at me. Once again something welled up inside of me as I raised my hands in front of me, a series of green ovals appearing in front of them, becoming a glowing green sphere around me. He meteors shattered, snapping into pieces and falling to the ground uselessly all around me, while three heads gave me a totally baffled look before the wild was brought down by a combination of slashing blades, a beam on concentrated sunlight, and a bolt of lightning.

The next room was dazzling, a shining cave made of pure gold. I gaped around, taking in the lustrous metal. Grovyle grabbed some band thing from his bag, before vanishing through the wall. When he returned he was carrying a rock in the shape of the sun which glowed softly, as well as a mask made of solid gold. Lance grinned to Grovyle, taking the mask and nodding happily. "Thank you very much, Team Wing. It looks like our mission is complete."

Well, we got back to the base, nothing really of importance happened, aside from me learning the name of the move I had used to save myself and how to do it again, we got paid, everything was good, and we all decided to wait for Eye to come back, though what Fortin had said began nagging at my mind once more, making me uneasy. Now I really didn't want to wait for him to come back... I needed to talk to him. Mar ended up hurrying past us at one point, with the rest of his team following as quickly as they could. When he did something odd happened, my vision vanished for a second, replaced with somewhere which clearly wasn't the guild. A massive stone spire reached up through the sky, piercing the clouds, seeming to go on forever. Then it crumbled away, shattering, pieces disintegrating in the light of a golden flame which formed itself into a spiral. Once more a sibilant hiss echoed out and I turned around, a pale and bright blue eye right in front of my face.

I gave a shocked noise and looked around, but it had faded. _What... was that...?_

* * *

Oooohhh suspensefullish ending, sppoooookyyyy.

Okay I did an OC submission sheet for Zayan as an example:

Name: Zayan

Gender: Male

Species: Cubone

Moveset: Standard moves, Flamethrower, Protect, -spoiler tag-, -spoiler tag-

Backstory: -spoiler tag-

Meeting place: Meets Team Wing after waking up with amnesia near the guild.

Rank: Explorer, Member of Team Wing, Hyper Rank.

Anythign else?: Terrified of heights, appears to have an odd connection to the Mystery Keys

LONG chapter. Yeah, longer than most as far as I know... Anyways, I hope you liked it, and I was kidn of running out of writing juice as I wrote the final Hydreigon fight, if I go back and redo it better I'll tell you all. I'll say I liked parts of this chapter a lot. Not really the dungeon (because, well, yeah I kinda failed that part and I think I willl end up rewriting it after I hit the ten chapter mark). But anyways. Liked the shifting of perspective, Clover being nice, Grovyle being irked, Zayan being absolutely terrified of heights... And all the foreshadowing and stuff. As well as Fortin. What happened, hm...? I wonder how many of you can guess...


	9. Chapter 9

Yes, I am alive. I just haven't been posting... Sorry, I just kind of lost the will to write for a while but I'm trying to get back into it again so yeah... hope you guys enjoy, whoever's still reading this if anyone

* * *

There was quite a chatter going on in the mess hall as I entered the eating room the next day, seeing as Eye hadn't come back and I was tired, and everything all added up to me practically passing out in the hallway until Grovyle had come by and led me back to my room. So now I was hoping to find the bird at breakfast. However, what I found was a small podium set up, and a nervous green reptile with a tall horn on its head, staring over the crowd, appearing very nervous.

"What's going on?" I asked when I had managed to find a familiar face, that one being Clover's. The electric mouse shrugged slightly. "All I know is that Fortin has some kind of announcement to make, I'm not sure what he's actually going to say..."

A few moments later of silence between us, but speculation all around, and a certain Whismur called out for everyone to shut up and let Fortin speak. Thank goodness the little Pokémon was at the opposite edge of the assembly. All eyes turned to Fortin, who glanced about fearfully before opening his mouth quietly and then nodding. "Alright, everyone... A lot of exploration teams are formed each year, but few disband... Well, this is one of those few cases. I'm the last member of Team Blitz, and to be honest, I've lost any enjoyment I had of adventure... The rest of the team is dead, and I'm the last member, the one in command, really. So here my choice stands. Team Blitz is disbanded, and no longer exists. I'm sorry, but I don't have what it takes to continue a team as great as theirs was..."

"Well, I _must_ say, I'm very impressed you _decided_ to make such a brave move. We are all terribly sorry for your loss, but hopefully you can still consider us _friends._" There was no mistaking the tones of a certain cactus which nodded quietly to Fortin. However, Fortin apparently didn't share the happy sentiments, but he did manage to keep his calm. If I hadn't been looking for it after our conversation, I probably wouldn't have seen his stance change and become more nervous before he regained control of himself.

"Thanks..." Fortin whispered softly, the word hanging quietly in the still air. "I'll stay in town, just not here... Thank you for everything you all did for me, everyone. It means a lot to me..." The he hopped down from the wooden platform, moving quickly from the room.

To be honest? I was rather... surprised. However, what really startled me was Eye suddenly appearing behind me. "Well, I must admit I am not surprised that Fortin made that choice..." Eye murmured. "Now, Zayan, Grovyle said something about you wanting to talk to me?"

Had I said that to Grovyle? Um... probably when I was half asleep... "Can we talk in private?" I asked Eye quietly. He nodded, and we left the hall, heading to his room, where a desk stood, with a series of books and scrolls scattered along it.

"Now, what do you want to talk about?" Eye asked.

"I ran into Fortin, not today, but before. He seemed really scared and such, I know he's jittery but... Look, Eye, he said that Team Blitz wasn't the only team to enter the dungeon, I guess you know that, but... Apparently a team or two managed to make it far along with Team Blitz, and after the guardian of a powerful mystery key was defeated a member from the team betrayed everyone and killed them..."

Eye was speechless for a time, giving me an intense stare. "And you trust him. Even though he was clearly absolutely terrified."

"Yes." I responded. "He was telling the truth, Eye. I just... I just know I can trust him..." I murmured. It seemed such an odd thing to say, but it was true. Fortin just seemed... trustworthy.

"Very well... if someone were smart enough... I don't doubt... hm... I'll most certainly look into this, thank you Zayan..." Eye murmured. "Look, this is going to sound bad, but forget about all that for now. I will investigate, but it will take time. The first instant I find something which is of importance I will notify you, I promise."

"Alright..." I responded, a bit hesitantly. I wasn't going to forget about it obviously, oh no, most certainly not. However, I was going to let Eye handle it, he probably would deal with it better than anyone...

We had another few missions in which nothing really happened... Well. The usual battles and whatnot, but no actual huge occurrences, and thankfully they were fairly easy. However, our next mission was a LITTLE different from that. Eye and Gem had been off searching again, and Eye finally called us all together one night. Sitting at a table, a map laid out before him. He had marked multiple spots, many in red, one in green. "Alright, here it is." He said calmly. "We've discovered the location of another mystery key, and we're going to go retrieve it."

I looked up sharply, blinking a few times. "What's the dungeon supposed ot be like?" I asked with a slight frown. The last memory of the mission to get the last key was still on my mind a little, and not in a positive way.

Eye smiled a little. "Nothing like the last one. This place is called the Haunted Hill, a small, out of the way dungeon, though the wilds there are rather powerful. Mainly ghost types with a few others thrown in. I believe the legendary guarding the key will NOT be a ghost type however. There're rumours that've flown around though many of them point to it being Moltres. We'll see when we get there I suppose... While it will be somewhat tough, I'm sure we can all handle it quite well. We'll be heading out tomorrow, so get a good night's sleep."

_It was dark, I was walking along behind someone. They were a bit taller than me but not by much. Then a flicker in the darkness, a flash of red and white, a shining blue eye, dark claws slashing through the air..._ My eyes flew open, I was panting, and got up, heading towards the mess hall so I could pace without waking anyone up. The previous time I'd had a bad dream, two nights before, apparently my pacing woke a few light sleepers up, so... I paused outside though. While many teams held late night meetings there, it was beyond the time that almost anyone except nocturnal Pokémon were awake, and even then, most of them had headed out for night time missions.. Yet someone was talking. "I know we need to be careful with it, but..." Mar...? Sounded like him, though the trailing away made me a little nervous. I held my breath, sinking back into the shadows before the Riolu called out. "Zayan, I can sense your aura, there's no point in hiding." The sounds of movement came, something being wrapped up. I slipped out into the room. Turinor and Nightmare were there as well. "Overheard us and got curious hm? Can't say I blame you, I'll admit that last bit didn't sound the best..." Mar hopped down from where he'd been sitting, walking over to me. I swallowed, backing up a little nervously before Mar shook his head. "Stop. Just... stop being scared. I'm not going to hurt you. We have a mystery key, Snorlax let us borrow it." Mar said. "We;re trying to tackle a very difficult dungeon, but the key, even out of the dungeon, can have some bad effects, which is why we need to be careful, and that's why we're examining it now, when there isn't the chattering and chaos of multiple Pokémon to spark it to act up." He explained. I wasn't entirely sure, but..

"Zayan, feel free to ask Snorlax if you're still suspicious." Okay, now I was annoyed that he could read my emotions so well. "And also, I have an unusual talent for reading emotions and such, so stop being annoyed, only psychic types and some dragon types can properly conceal emotions and stray thoughts from me. I opened my mouth to say something in shock before closing it. Mar chuckled quietly, seeming aa bit happier than his normal gruffness. "Why're you up though? I won't try and guess."

I frowned at that. "Bad dream." I finally muttered with a shrug, a bit embarrassed. Something hit me, a random emotion. Pity... Where was..? Mar shifted slightly. "Come on, let's go for a walk." He said, motioning away. "You two pack that up." He added to his other team members. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Okay, seriously, what was going on...?

Outside Mar walked through the quiet town, nodding to one or two ghost types who were floating around, heading over to a cliff. I was cautious about sitting down a distance from the height, though Mar dangled his feet off the edge. "Okay, so what's going on?" I asked, staring upwards at the night sky, the moon halfway full, the bright semicircle shining downwards, providing enough light to see decently by.

"I saw a flicker of the dream you had. Mar said softly. "For some reason I can sense your aura much, much better than others. It's quite strong." He said with a shrug. "Anyways, that little flicker I caught... it looked like Darkrai. I don't know, have you heard of...?"

"The nightmare Pokémon." I responded, feeling a slight shiver. Had it been him? The dream had been so chaotic and quick and scary. Though why it had been so scary... it was just startling... but it felt like something awful was going to happen...

"There's such a thing known as Darkrrai's curse, it happens quite accidentally." Mar responded. "Generally it affects those with something significant about them, for example, the ability to read aura, psychic types... those more able to sense their surroundings. It's completely unintentional, but sometimes it basically locks someone in such a way that they have nightmares much more often than others, always particularily scary ones, and it gets worse as it goes on."

Oh. That sounded wonderful. Nightmares weren't that bad to deal with but if they started to happen quite often... "And you think I have it?" I asked quietly. "And how would you recognize it so easily?"

"Heh. I have it Zayan." He said, looking over to me. "I'm generally grumpy because I don't get much sleep, and I prefer not to use seeds to put myself to sleep, overuse of that is very bad.. And sometimes, when I feel a strong emotion it can project onto others. I feel sorry that you might have it as well, it's not fun..."

I shifted quietly. Lack of sleep was never god but constant nightmares...? That really wasn't something I was looking forwards to... :Well... thanks for warning me I guess..." I murmured. "But isn't there a cure?"

"A lunar wing, though it takes a lot of energy for a Cresselia to make one, so they rarely make one... I've yet to meet one who was willing to, though I've only met two thus far." Mar said with a slight shrug. "I'm hoping to find one soon though."

"Did.. you get few good night's sleep?" I asked hesitantly. It seemed rude, but... meh, always curious.

"Mar grinned. "Perceptive. Yes, I did, that's why I'm in a much better mood than normal. I thought i should warn you about what may be in the future... Darkrai do not mean to pass on this affliction to others, nor can they control it, it just happens, same as Cresselia can pass on to others a sort of blessing, which makes the one who has it have very good dreams near constantly." Mar said.

I nodded quietly again, tilting my head a little. "Do you ever get daydreams, or.. well nightmares or... I don' know I kind of dozed off I guess in the middle of the day and saw a blue eye and a tower or something, and a golden flame in a spiral. It wasn't really a nightmare or anything."

Mar sat up very suddenly on hearing that, turning swiftly, before frowning and sitting down. I'm sure if hie had his eyes he would've been staring appraisingly at me, the way he was twisted and his posture seemed to indicate that... "Does.. that mean anything to you?" I asked hesitantly. The sudden change was enough to make me rather nervous...

"... no..." Mar murmured, frowning. "I'm thinking of something else, something similar, but, no, that itself doesn't mean anything..." he said, standing up. "You should probably head back now..." Mar added quietly, turning back to the cliff, throwing a pebble off into the water. I nodded and quickly headed back, frowning under the skull. Mar had been lying then. I knew it. He definitely had not been telling the truth at all... that meant something... _But what? Why'd he react so shocked and worried...? Or was... no he definitely is keeping something secret..._ So many things I didn't know... When I headed back to my room I lay down again, though I tossed and turned for at least an hour, repeating the same questions, trying to figure things out. But quite simply I didn't know... And I just couldn't come to any conclusions... I'd mention it to Eye the next day after the mission... yeah, that'd be the best choice.

* * *

So yeah. Some important-ish stuff in this, no battles. The dungeon's next time, and something rather suprising's going to happen... Hehe... Well. We're almost at the point of something really big occurring but I'll save that for when it actually happens. Might be a few weeks, but I should have the next chapter out much sooner than the time from the last one to this one.

Oh yes.** PLEASE REVIEW!** Seriously, the fact that people read this is what makes me write, if I don't get any feedback, then, well... I just don't get inspired to write... So yeah, see you all next time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Haunted Hill, Floor One**

Eye woke us up quite early in the morning, before the sun had properly risen. We headed out of the guild, and Eye had teleported us to the entrance to the dungeon, which really didn't look so bad. Dark rock, a faint breeze, and a lot of barely audible, creepy whispers. When I noticed that last part I became a little more nervous. Anyways, once inside the dungeon, mostly gray stone, some dirt and shale, and patches of the black stone, we began moving, looking around for the staircase. And that was when I got a nasty shock. Yes they are ghosts. I just never really thought that they'd come floating through the walls at me, that's all. Which, obviously, a ghost type did, popping out of the wall right next to me and unleashing some kind of psychic attack, tossing me halfway across the room we were in. About three seconds later it faded away, electricity, a psychic blast, and some weird blue fire leaving nothing behind. When Clover helped me up she smiled a little. "Sorry, forgot to tell you about that. And you can go all out against ghosts, they'll reform fairly quickly." She said with a little shrug. Just keep your eyes on the walls, ghosts have a habit of popping up where you generally aren't expecting wilds."

"No kidding..?" I murmured out, following after everyone else. When we got to a narrow corridor Eye reached into the bag he was carrying, pulling out an orb with a few red dots on it. "Just in case there're ghosts in the walls." He said with a smile, heading through. Turned out it was a good precaution, because both him and Clover were suddenly hit by what seemed to be punches from inside the wall. Sneaky, and a good move, they couldn't exactly hit back. Well until Eye used the orb, and the corridor widened considerably. Three rather surprised and now nervous looking Bannette stared at us for a few moments before lunging forwards to attack. The first slashed at Eye with suddenly sharp, dark claws, but was thrown away by a ball of material that didn't look too different from the ghost types. The balls not only hurled the ghost backwards but blasted a hole through it, causing it to dissipate.

Gem and Grovyle struck at another, Grovyle slashing with claws that looked like they were surrounded by blue and red flames, Gem with the same blue fire as before. However, the Banette moved faster than both of them, landing a sharp hit to Grovyle's stomach. And then vanishing amidst the blue flames. The last one cackled loudly and summoned an orb similar to what Eye had been using, hurling it at me. I called up the shield I'd used before against the Hydreigon, the ball just splashing harmlessly, breaking like water. I swung the bone I had hard at it, but the club just passed right through. Clover's electricity, however, did not, and left the ghost Pokémon unconscious. "So... How come my attack didn't work when all yours did?" I asked, frowning a little. Grovyle shook his head and sighed. "_Ghost_ Pokémon Zayan. Ghost. You can only affect them moves which aren't just hitting them. Elemental attacks, ones based on their own type, and so on work perfectly fine. But just trying to hit them won't work. And on top of that they're near immune to fighting moves which aren't just swinging a fist or foot, as well as normal attacks."

Gem, however, smiled. "Just use your flamethrower next time, from what I've heard they'll back off in a hurry if they have to deal with that."

"Alright, alright..." I murmured. "What moves did you use though?" I added curiously to Eye and Grovyle.

"Shadow ball for me, dragon claw for Grovyle. There're machines which can teach Pokémon moves and techniques they don't normally learn."

"Ah, alright..." I murmured, watching as Eye began walking again, his eyes glowing slightly now, occasionally pausing to stare at a wall. "Miracle eye." Clover murmured after a few minutes, obviously catching my curious look. "It allows him to look through walls and such, he's probably working out the quickest way to the stairs." And sure enough about a minute later we reached the said stairs, heading swiftly up the rocky steps.

Further up things began to get a little creepier looking, dead branches and the occasional bone lying around. As well as a large dead tree, branches reaching out like petrified fingers, silhouetting the stairs. The next few floors passed without much incident until...

**Haunted Hill, Floor Five**

A large group of ghosts attacked us in a large room, all coming in groups, floating silently, menacingly. I dealt with one with a flamethrower, then one looking a lot like Nightmare floated in front of me, eyes suddenly glowing brightly. I heard Gem's call vaguely, far away. "Zayan, look away from it!" But then my eyelids dropped. And in front of me stood something else than the Haunter. Black, tall, white streaming around a pale blue eye, glaring malevolently.

"Dakrai.." I whispered, stepping back nervously. All I could see of the surroundings was a full moon silhouetting the dark type, who floated forwards. At the same time I realized something was wrong. I had full control of my body. In most of my dreams it was like I was an observer, watching things happen, without any proper control, but here... "Where am I?"

"In a nightmare induced by a Pokémon, where I can rid the world of such an anomaly as you that ought not exist." The words were a soft hiss, almost beautiful, but carrying a haunting, chilling tone at the same time. Then the legendary lunged forwards, slashing three sharp claws across my belly, my jump backwards just saving me. A second claw came swinging down and I jerked away, eyes flying open, panting. The ghosts were all gone, and the rest of the team was around me, looking rather concerned. I stood up, then winced in pain, staring at my midsection. Clover wordlessly handed me a berry, which I bit in to nervously, swallowing. "What happened?" I whispered out softly.

"That Haunter used hypnosis, put you to sleep." Came Gem's gentle tone. "You just woke up, though Clover got the Haunter before it could do anything more, I don't know how you got those cuts... did it use Shadow claw, and I missed it, Clover?" Gem asked, looking to the electric mouse, who shook her head sharply side to side. Eye looked curious, giving me a stare that suggested he had a guess of what I was thinking... _Well... that's something more I need to ask Eye about..._ came my weak thought. That had been scarier than any of the dreams... but what did the words mean? Why? It didn't make any sense...

The cuts stopped bleeding quickly, so we headed out again, walking along. Clover nudged me when I became too spaced out, making a little jerking motion of her head, tilting it curiously. I just shrugged, not wanting to explain while we were in a dungeon and had to keep moving. I just knew for sure I wasn't going to let myself be put to sleep again...

We reached a sort of rest stop, a safe room in the middle of the dungeon Although around the Khangakhan's neck was a pendant, a spiral flame of gold. That took me by surprise, and I quickly asked Eye about it. Well... it was from that weird flash from before so...

"That is most often used as a symbol of hope and strength. Mystery Dungeons shift very often, and sometimes become new and different. This one, perhaps fifty years back, was extraordinarily difficult, and had three safe rooms scattered throughout. These were placed on the statues to show that the end was near and to be strong..."

_I really need to know what's going on with the odd dreams..._ I leaned down against the statue, closing my eyes and resting, Clover sitting down beside me and giving me a little nudge. "You doing alright? You've been kind of spaced out the whole day."

"Er.." I frowned under the skull. "I... I want to talk to Eye about it first, Clover, sorry." I whispered softly, lowering my head. It felt bad keeping her in the dark.

Clover appeared a bit annoyed by what I'd said but didn't comment, shrugging quietly. "Alright." She murmured finally. "But you need to tell me after." She added with a frown, staring at me determinedly, causing me to nod softly.

**Haunted Hill, Crest**

Soon after we reached what appeared to be the peak of the hill, nothing growing there, though a highly polished rock, enough so that it reflected us. I stared around nervously, feeling an odd thrum continuously going around. Everyone else seemed rather tense. "The key is here." Eye said. "However it is not unguarded... Mind yourselves everyone." He murmured softly.

Then a red eye flashed across the stone for a moment. And then something massive crawled out of it, tattered black wings with red spikes protruding spread menacingly. A golden mouth opened, an odd, haunting cry echoing outwards, gray, long body slowly raising to its full height. Grovyle muttered something in shock, staring. I had to admit, I was equally shocked. I mean, I'd seen a legendary before but it just... just... it was a legendary. They had a certain presence...

Giratina. Standing tall, then letting out another haunting cry, staring around. "No, I am not one of the apparitions we summon as guardians, I am a true legendary... My name is Norius." the voice was slow, eerie, but at the same time almost... calming... "I have heard of you Eye, if you and your team can face me and best me you shall have this." The massive ghostly dragon motion to a blue orb traced with golden lines held within the crown like horns it had atop its head.

"We will have it." Eye responded firmly, walking calmly forwards, staring upwards. "Let us begin."

"Let us begin." Norius echoed, seeming to smile before crying out again and vanishing. Or half vanishing, his form becoming like a web of shadows. Eye shouted for everyone to get away, leaping back himself before the legendary reappeared, slamming down amidst us, sending us flying. I rolled backwards, ducking as I saw a massive blast of shadows, in a roughly spherical shape, flying at me and instinctively acted. Green flickered around me, causing it to splash harmlessly around me. Norius just smiled (at least, I think it was a smile, what with the odd mouth), turning to fight Gem and Grovyle, who had attacked as one, a blast of blue flames and slashing, glowing claws. Though the legendary grunted and staggered he managed to sweep them away easily with its tail. And then was hurled flying backwards with a blue glow around it's body, Eye's eyes glowing in the same colour. Clover lunged forwards, a huge bolt of lightning blasting the dragon as well.

I jumped up, summoning the fire up inside of me and sending a blast of the flames against Norius as well. Then the dragon was up again, a wave of energy pulsating out from the gem, tossing everyone else backwards. It half vanished again into the black shadows, and I used Protect again, but heard Eye shouting for me to get out of the way. As Norius reappeared he smashed through the shield, tossing me along, though it was like he'd brushed me as opposed to actually trying to hit me, since only the landing hurt a bit.

In that time everyone else had focussed on the legendary, a flurry of various attacks causing it to stagger and kneel down, wings beating wildly and tossing everyone backwards. "Enough, enough..." came the murmur, Norius standing up and lowering its head, the key falling to the ground. "You are strong enough to hold this and be safe with it, it is yours to keep." Came the soft murmur from the dragon. I glanced around, seeing my feelings of surprise mirrored on the faces of Grovyle and Gem.

The Dragonair smiled slightly, nodding. "True legendaries rarely fight to actual defeat, they're able to judge character and strength much better..." she said in a near whisper. Eye picked up the mystery key with his psychic abilities, carefully placing it within his bag.

"One last thing before you all leave... you fought well." Came Norius's soft words. "Your skills are all impressive..." His gaze travelled around, resting on me last. "But be careful, great power can cause great harm..." I shivered as his stare grew more intense before he looked around once more. "Ah yes, a hint as to the key's powers... light." And then he was gone. Just... vanished. Disappeared into thin air, leaving us along atop the hill, a few green blades of grass now poking up from the ground.

"Hmm, an interesting hint..." remarked Eye, sounding oddly calm for what just happened, as if it had occurred many times. Although, come to think of it, it probably had happened a fair few times... "I believe I know what this one will do but it'll need testing first... Come on, everyone, let's head back..."

Author's note: Yes, there is a bit of the chapter left. But please review. Knowing people like/ read stuff and getting feedback is very helpful to keep me inspired and writing.

**Norius**

"I know what you did."

There was a soft sound of repetitive clacking, a triplet of sounds that paused before starting each time, claws on stone. I let the silence grow, waiting for a response, though when none came I spoke again. "You can't be sure what will happen."

"If you recall, Norius, they killed many of us..." the soft hiss echoed out, filled with cold anger.

"If _I_ recall? I was alive then, unlike you! And if you are referring to the most recent conflict, then I should ask if you recall, seeing as your memory has been damaged before." The black and white figure twitched slightly in front of me, back still turned. "And in the initial fight many of the legendary shields and killers helped us."

"... perhaps a quarter of them... one in four chances are not odds I like."

"And of those quarter, perhaps three quarters were those who were first to appear... It was only after the fights began that the new ones truly began fighting back... and we cannot blame them..."

The black claws twitched slightly. "You interfered... You woke him up..."

I smiled slightly. So he'd caught that now... "Yes, and the others agree with me, we wait and see how things develop, we can enlist help of those weaker than us if we must." I whispered. "But I think we won't need to, this isn't like with the original..."

"And if I try again if he's asleep in another dungeon?"

"Then I will intervene again, Ati-"

"DON'T call me that!" the vehemence and explosive anger in the words shocked me, made me jerk back slightly in surprise. "That name is gone and done, it was when the legendary key was found by that monster!" I waited, just remaining quiet, curious as to what Darkrai'd say next. "... fine. I won't harm him, yet, but if there're signs of him acting against us..."

"Things must be handled delicately, none of us want to see anyone die. Caution and patience are what're needed..." I pointed out as gently as I could.

"I know. Now please leave me alone..."

"Very well..."

So there's the chapter and am I evil for hinting vaguely at so much stuff and yet not truly telling you guys anything? C: yes I think I am. Oh well. Anyways. Lots of stuff hinted at, tell me your thoughts in a review please.


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